There is a certain uncertainty in my studio work. Giant knitted installations can completely unravel from one broken spot. Language made concrete in textiles ask questions that hold no concrete answers. Sharp heavy metal objects are held in silk chiffon with tiny stitches of thread, awaiting eventual rupture. Cement works degrade, rust, fade and crumble. I use common materials and techniques embedded with histories, beauty and absurdity to find entrance to larger, harder conversations about our connected humanity, invisible labor, and environmental destruction
The community projects I am involved in are totally different. They are centered around exchange; of labor, stories, time and ideas. They are designed to flatten hierarchies embedded in institutions and to embracing the gentle rhythms of making together. Often playful and absurd, these projects affirm gathering as a location of substantial change. 

CV Michelle Montjoy
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Selected Exhibitions
               2022     The Breathing Room  New Children's Museum, San Diego, CA 
                              Fiber Art International  Pittsburgh, PA, traveling to Fort Collins CO in 2023
                              Small Acts- the craft of subversion  San Diego City College 
                                 Syntax- Art Produce Gallery San Diego, CA
               2021     Sowing Seeds, Mesa College, San Diego, CA
                           Tricksters and Transformation, Textile Arts LA, Culver City, CA
                               Chorus, permanent installation at Seabird Resort, Oceanside, CA
               2020    Mesa Drive-In: a drive-thru art exhibition  Mesa College, San Diego, CA
                              Borrow Pit  Brandes Gallery, Lux Art Institute,  Encinitas, CA
                           Edges Frayed with Bhavna Mehta and Irma Sophia Poeter, Cannon Gallery, Carlsbad CA
               2019     A Dime to Call Home, public art installation at Liberty Station, Point Loma, CA 
                              Faculty + 1,  San Diego City College, San Diego, CA
                             To Do - a mending project, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA
                            Correspondence, 1805 Gallery, San Diego, CA
              2018     Being Here With You/ Estando Aquí Contigo, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego,
                              To Do-a mending project, 1805 Gallery, San Diego, CA           
                              That’s What She Said, Boehm Gallery, Palomar College San Marcos, CA
                              Terra Infirma, Space4Art, San Diego, CA
                            Figure of Speech, installation at San Diego International Airport, San Diego, CA                            
                         Dia de Mujer, The Front/ Arte Cultura, San Ysidro, CA
               2017    The Maker’s Eye, Boehm Gallery, Palomar College San Marcos, CA
                             New Contemporaries, San Diego Art Prize, CM Curatorial, San Diego, CA
                          DomesticACTion, Art Produce Gallery, San Diego, CA
                          River, Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, CA                          
                          Nasty Women, Helmuth Projects, San Diego, CA
              2016    Michelle Montjoy, Sophies Gallery, Kensington  San Diego, CA
                          UnRest: Carrie Minikel, Michelle Montjoy and Lissa Corona  Linksoul Lab/HSCC, Oceanside, CA
                          Flat Earth, Ship in the Woods, Escondido, CA     
                          Looking Back/Forward: 20 years of Art Produce, Art Produce Gallery, San Diego, CA 

Socially Engaged Projects
                To Do: a mending project  Michelle Montjoy, Siobhan Arnold, and Anna O’Cain
                DomesticACTion California Arts Council-Artists Engaging Communities grant with Art Produce Gallery
               River  Creative Catalyst grant project with Oceanside Museum of Art
               Around the Corner, Uncommon Core,  Interchange, Espero Sparrow
              Co-facilitator: Community Art Projects: 1+1=1, Coordinates and Request

Awards
               2022   Fiber Arts International  Third Place award
               2020   Artist Residency: Brush Creek Art Foundation, Saratoga, WY          
               2018   Excellence in Fibers IV: Fiber Arts Now, Winter 2018
               2017   Artist Residency: Ipark Foundation, East Hadaam, CT            
               2017   San Diego Art Prize nominee, Emerging Artist category, San Diego, CA
               2017   California Arts Council/Artists Engaging Communities grant with Art Produce Gallery, San Diego, CA                        
              2016   Creative Catalyst Grant fellowship, San Diego Foundation, San Diego, CA 
              2007-8   Artist Residency: Painting’s Edge, Idyllwild, CATeaching,

Speaking, Employment, Boards
               Board Member: Boehm Gallery Advisory Board 2021- present               
               Embedded Artist  Veteran’s Park Project, City of Carlsbad, CA  2020-21
               Juror:  San Diego Airport Arts program, Mesa College Museum Studies Program  MCASD Artist under 25                 
              Artist lectures/panel discussions : Gensler Architecture, San Diego State University, San Diego Art Institute, Cal State
                   University San Marcos Art Media & Design Program, MiraCosta College Art Department, Mesa College Museum Studies,  Canyon Crest High School,
                   North Coastal Knitters Guild, Textile Guild of San Diego, San Diego, CA
             Visiting Artist/Instructor  Lux Art Institute, Encinitas, CA Athenaeum School of the Arts
             Teaching Artist  Monte Vista Elementary, Vista, CA  1998 -2014               
             Art Instructor- Studio Art  Guajome Park Academy Vista, CA 2005-2007  
             Commissioner- Vista Arts Council  Vista, CA 2005-2007      
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Education 
             Illinois State University  B.S. Visual Arts/Visual Communications