RESUME

Megan Williamson (she/her) is a painter who lives and works in Chicago. Her work has been shown in Italy, Ireland, Canada, and dozens of venues across the United States. She was awarded an Innovation Fellowship with the National Science Foundation, three CAAP grants and a DCASE grant from the city of Chicago. She has taught painting at institutions in the United States and Italy, including the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the International School of Art in Umbria, the University of Michigan, Mt Gretna School of Art, Projecto Perugia, Columbia College, University of Dallas, and more. Her work can be found in private and public collections throughout the country, including recent acquisitions by the Swope Art Museum and the Midwest Museum of American Art.

Selected CV:

EDUCATION 
1983-5     New York Studio School (2nd year: Arthur B. Carles full scholarship) NYC 
1985     Yale’s Norfolk Summer Program (full scholarship) CT 
1981    Queens College Summer Program– Camsutt, NY
1978-82 Knox College (Bachelor of Arts, cum laude), IL 


SOLO EXHIBITIONS 
2023     100 Zoom Portraits — Swope Art Museum, IN
2018     Defying Gravity – Rare Nest Gallery, Chicago 
2017     Please Respond – Ohio Wesleyan University, OH 
2016     The Influence of French Masters – Residence of the Counsel General of France, Chicago 2015     Natural Selection – Chin-Azarro Gallery, Ypsilanti, MI 
2014     Architecture and Nature – Cliff Dwellers, Chicago 
2013     We Live Here – Bette Cerf Hill Gallery, Chicago 
Many Summers – Washburn Cultural Center, WI 
2011     Patterns of Recognition – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville 
2009     bed of earth, blanket of blue air – Madron Gallery, Chicago 
2005     Collaborating with Nature – Ryerson Conservation Area, IL 
2004     City Landscapes – Thomas Masters Gallery, Chicago 
Drawn to Poetry – Vicky Tesmer Gallery, Chicago 
2003     Fallen Fabric – Thomas Masters Gallery, Chicago 
2002     New Work – Laramie College, Cheyenne WY 
2001     Umbrian Landscapes – Loyola University, IL 
1999     Tools, Chaos and Order – Eastwick Gallery, Chicago 
1998     New Paintings – Eastwick Gallery, Chicago 
The Hat Drawings – Galleria Isa, Italy 
1997     Recent Work – University of Dallas, TX 
Salon – Gallery 1616, Chicago 
1996     Passaggi Italiani – Galleria Isa, Italy 
1993     New Work – Gallery 1616, Chicago 
1992     Recent Paintings – Knox College Gallery, IL 
Passaggi Italiani – Galleria Isa, Italy 


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS: 2018- Present
2023    American Portraits: Identity, Persona, & Power — Midwest Museum of American Art, IN
    ArtPrize 2023 — Grand Rapids, MI
    Polyglot: 40 Artists and Three Centuries of Art —  Rare Nest Gallery, Chicago
    Saturday Night Show, Volume 11 — All Art Works, Grand Rapids, MI
2022    Art-in-Place: Falling, organized by Terrain Exhibitions and CNL Projects — Chicago
    Knox in New York, Borzello Gallery — Knox College, IL
2021     Boom Holiday Art Show — BOOM Contemporary, Online 
Terrain Biennial 2021 — Terrain Exhibitions, Nationwide 
First Show — BOOM Contemporary, Online 
2021 Alumni Exhibition — New York Studio School 
Zeuxis: Composing in the Key of S — First Street Gallery, NYC 
The Book Project — Michael Warren Contemporary, Denver 
Self Portraits — The Hoyt Art Center, New Castle, PA 
2020     Art in Place – Nationwide, organized by Terrain Exhibitions and CNL Projects 
National Arts Drive – Nationwide, organized by Raw Artists 
Gems: Small Still Lifes of the Midwest Paint Group and Zeuxis – There, NYC 
AllArtWorks Exhibit — The Yard, Columbus Circle, NYC, in collaboration with Sarah Crown 2019 Animals 
    As Muse: Two-Person Exhibition with Deborah Masters and Megan Williamson – Joyce Goldstein Gallery, 
    Chatham, NY
Meet Select Artists – Taubman Museum, Roanoke, VA 
Two Van Dykes and The Midwest Paint Group – Ripon College, WI 
AllArtWorks Exhibit — 37 Ottawa, Grand Rapids, MI; Tri-Cities Historical Museum, Grand Haven, MI 2018     East Meets Midwest II – A New Figuration (expanded), at the Springfield Museum of Art, OH X 
    Marks the Spot – The Women of the New York Studio School, The New York Studio School, NYC 
    New Work – Midwest Paint Group, Village Gallery, Caledonia NY 
Drawing the Curtain – First Street Gallery, NYC 
Veils – There Gallery, NYC 
The Greatest Show on Earth! – Sideshow Gallery, Williamsburg, NY 
 

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS 
2015     DCASE Artist Grant, Chicago, IL 
2014     Innovation Fellowship, National Science Foundation, Chicago IL 
2010    Residency at Louisiana ArtWorks, New Orleans
2005    Artist Residency, Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL
2001, 02, 07 CAAP Grant, City of Chicago 
1989     Fellowship and Artist Residency, Ragdale Foundation, Lake Forest, IL 
1985     Arthur B. Carles Scholarship, New York Studio School, NYC 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: 2018-Present 
2022     Wicker Park artist Megan Williamson shows faces of pandemic Zoom calls: ‘It looks like America to me’, Chicago Sun Times, Mitch Dudek 
Chicago artist captures shared humanity of pandemic through Zoom portraits, Scripps Media, Jessie Cohen 2021     Chicago Artist Paints ‘100 Zoom Portraits’, WTTW, Angel Idowu 
2020     On Observation, Memory, and Joy: A Conversation, Zeuxis, Imogen Smith 
2018     Megan Williamson: Defying Gravity, David Ebony— Contributing Editor for Art in America A View from the Easel, Hyperallergic 
Visiting Artist, Essay, Dmitry Samarov 

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS 
Midwest Museum of American Art
The Swope Museum of American Art 
Vincent and Christine Floreani: Consul General of France 
The Newberry Library 
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago: Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection 
Anthropologie 
Loyola University Medical School 
The Bond Market Association 
Ragdale Foundation 
The International School of Art in Umbria, Italy 
Ryerson Woods Library 
Verzone Woods Architects, Switzerland 
Newtown Barry House, Ireland 
Louisiana ArtWorks, New Orleans 
Artifex Construction 
RTP Environmental Associates 
The Myron Shure Collection 
Tres Jolie Art, Inc. 
200 + private collections