I make art that encompasses installation, sculpture, embroidery and social practice in and around my home in Oceanside, California. Much of my creative practice stems from a somewhat unconventional upbringing. Our family moved around the United States every few years so I was always the new kid in school. Being invited into an activity was a cherished gift- welcoming folks is now a pivotal part of my socially engaged projects. I became keenly aware of how it felt to enter different physical environments every time we relocated-perhaps that has led me to designing room-sized textile installations. Being a bit nomadic, I gained an appreciation for the portability of small domestic textiles and the homes and histories contained in them. As the daughter of a child of the Depression, being a cautious consumer of materials still informs my work, and I try to use as many repurposed materials as I can.
A 2023 California Art Council Establish Artist Fellow, and past recipient of Creative Catalyst and California Arts Council grants, my work has been shown at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Art Produce Gallery, ICA North (formerly Lux) the San Diego International Airport, Oceanside Museum of Art and more. My recent project is Breathing Room, is a space for quietness and reflection at the New Children's Museum in San Diego. I am currently working on a new socially engaged project- Worrysum- a one-to-one exchange based in North San Diego County.
A 2023 California Art Council Establish Artist Fellow, and past recipient of Creative Catalyst and California Arts Council grants, my work has been shown at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Art Produce Gallery, ICA North (formerly Lux) the San Diego International Airport, Oceanside Museum of Art and more. My recent project is Breathing Room, is a space for quietness and reflection at the New Children's Museum in San Diego. I am currently working on a new socially engaged project- Worrysum- a one-to-one exchange based in North San Diego County.
CV Michelle Montjoy
Selected Exhibitions
2023 Rushing into the Void James Alan Rose Gallery, San Diego, CA
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
2023 California Arts Council Established Artist Award
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, CA
Speaking, Employment, Boards
Board Member:
Boehm Gallery Advisory Board, New Children's Museum Education Board, Art Produce Gallery 2021-present
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
Education
Illinois State University B.S. Visual Arts/Visual Communications
Selected Exhibitions
2023 Rushing into the Void James Alan Rose Gallery, San Diego, CA
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
2023 California Arts Council Established Artist Award
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, CA
Speaking, Employment, Boards
Board Member:
Boehm Gallery Advisory Board, New Children's Museum Education Board, Art Produce Gallery 2021-present
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
Education
Illinois State University B.S. Visual Arts/Visual Communications