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Melissa MacAlpin

Melissa MacAlpin is currently an Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Felician University.

For the past 18 years, Melissa has been making books and comics.

She spends her time collecting stories from friends and acquaintances.

She reinterprets these stories into comics, drawings and paintings, offering her audience the opportunity to glimpse at the hidden moments of day-to-day life.

artist statement

I am drawn to the metaphorical content of objects. How an action of a person is matched by the function of an object. I am interested the stories people tell. How, in the telling of these stories, they change as objects do- they break and fracture and wear- but are reassembled and repaired. When I collect stories from friends, acquaintances and strangers I think about the way the story is told. Is it a complaint or a confession? Or is it a way of reliving a moment that has passed. The accuracy of these stories are secondary to the life they take on. Stories have sentimental value- the same way objects can.
These objects and stories are the starting point for my projects.






education

Master of Fine Arts in Book Arts/Printmaking [ 1999-2001 ]
University of the Arts - Philadelphia, PA
Faculty Award Recipient [ 2001 ]


Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture [ 1994-1998 ]
Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University - New Brunswick, NJ




exhibition record

Textuate, Hull Gallery, Hudson County Community College, Jersey City, NJ [ 2016 ]
Printers in Residence IV, Newark Print Shop, Newark, NJ [ 2016 ]
Fat Gives Things Flavor, _gaia Studios, Jersey City, NJ [ 2016 ]
Printers In Residence IV, Newark Print Shop, Newark, NJ [ 2015 ]
Superfood, Main Gallery In Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ [ 2015 ]
Urban Threads, Lemmerman Gallery, NJCU, Patterson, NJ [ 2014 ]
This Must Be Home, Art Factory, Jersey City, NJ [ 2014 ]
_gaia Art Collective Studio Showcase, _gaia Studios, Jersey City, NJ [ 2014 ]
TEN: TEN Years Of Art And Activism, City Hall, Jersey City, NJ [ 2012 ]
TEN: TEN Years Of Art And Activism, TenMarc Building, Jersey City, NJ [ 2012 ]
Then You, My Dear Friend, Are A Damn Fool - Illuminated Manuscripts, _gaia Studios, Jersey City, NJ [ 2012 ]
Short Cuts, _gaia Studios, Jersey City, NJ [ 2011 ]
Here and Now, WOOLPUNK Studios, Jersey City, NJ [ 2011 ]
Red, White & Glitter, _gaia Studios, Jersey City, NJ [ 2011 ]
New News Is Old News, The Gowanus Studio Space, Brooklyn, NY [ 2011 ]
Tiny Baby Show, _gaia Studios, Jersey City, NJ [ 2011 ]
New News Is Old News, Aferro Gallery Gallery, Newark, NJ [ 2011 ]
Since You've Been Gone I Can Do Whatever I Want, Solo show, _gaia Studios, Jersey City, NJ [ 2010 ]
$$$, Lex Leonard Gallery, Jersey City, NJ [ 2010 ]
365 Days Of Print, Embankment Gallery, Jersey City, NJ [ 2009 ]
Codes, _gaia Studios, Jersey City, NJ [ 2010 ]
I And Thou, John Cotton Dana Library, Newark NJ [ 2009
_gaia Group, _gaia Studios, Jersey City, NJ [ 2009 ]
$$$, ABC No Rio, New York, NY [ 2009 ]
2191 Days And Counting, Powerhouse Arena, New York, NY [ 2009 ]
RESISTANCE!, John Cotton Dana Library, Newark, NJ [ 2008 ]
_gaia, Neumann Leather Building, Hoboken, NJ [ 2008 ]
Felician College Faculty Exhibition, Felician College, Lodi, NJ [ 2008 ]
WWIII, Mana Fine Arts, Jersey City, NJ [ 2008 ]
CORPOREAL - Book As Body, Body As Book, John Cotton Dana Library, Newark NJ [ 2007 ]
Pumping Kill Mud Down the Drill Pipe - Broadside Battle, Space 1026, Philadelphia, PA [ 2007 ]
Felician College Faculty Exhibition, Felician College, Lodi, NJ [ 2007 ]
Book Art, Penn State University, Abington, PA [ 2006 ]
Felician College Faculty Exhibition, Felician College, Lodi, NJ [ 2006 ]
The Independent Film And Video Showcase, The Greek Cultural Center, Astoria, NY [ 2006 ]
Human Pixel Project, Three Columns, Master House, Harvard University Cambridge, MA [ 2006 ]
Animation Block Party, BAM Rose Cinemas, Brooklyn, NY [ 2005 ]
Felician College Faculty Exhibition, Felician College, Lodi, NJ [ 2005 ]
Felician College Faculty Exhibition, Felician College, Lodi, NJ [ 2004 ]
LIFEbeat Art Auction, The Puck Building, New York, New York [ 2002 ]
All Small Exhibit, Eyedrum Art and Music Gallery, Atlanta, GA [ 2002 ]
Metamorphosis: Contemporary Forms In Book Arts, Bucks County College, Newtown, PA [ 2001 ]



lectures

Invisible Lines, Curated By Pablo Medina, Society of Illustrators, New York, NY [ 2015 ]



residencies

Printer In Residence, The Newark Print Shop, Newark, NJ [ 2015-2016 ]
Superfood, Gallery Affero, Newark, NJ [ 2015 ]
New News Is Old News, The Gowanus Studio Space, Brooklyn, NY [ 2011 ]
$$$, ABC No Rio, New York, NY [ 2009 ]
WWIII, Mana Fine Arts, Jersey City, NJ [ 2008 ]



small-press publications

...and all this is metaphor, Ink Jet And Stamped, When Lips Press [ 2011 ]
Tie Tuesday, Ink Jet, When Lips Press [ 2011 ]
Love Stories - Inspired By The New York Times, Ink Jet And Stamped, When Lips Press [ 2011 ]
Cardboard Weapons, Screenprint, When Lips Press [ 2011 ]
I Hate To Go To Bed, I Hate To Wake Up, I Hate To Be Alone, Inkjet, When Lips Press [ 2009 ]
This Is How We Walk On The Moon, Inkjet, When Lips Press [ 2008 ]
Oh, You're Married, Inkjet, When Lips Press [ 2008 ]
Night Sky In July, When Lips Press [ 2007 ]
Phone Call, LaserJet, When Lips Press [ 2007 ]
The Library, Inkjet, Ace Press [ 2006 ]
Driving Home, Laser Print, Ace Press [ 2002 ]
Tuesday Kissing, Heidelberg KORS One-Color Press, Ace Press [ 2001 ]
Broken Heart, Broken Head(band), Heidelberg KORS One-Color Press, Ace Press [2001 ]
My Bluebird Of Happiness, Heidelberg KORS One-Color Press, Ace Press [ 2001 ]
I Have Trouble Remembering Her, Action Girl, Issue 18, Slave Labor Graphics [ 1998 ]
Mrs. Miller, How I Became Beautiful, Action Girl, Issue 11, Slave Labor Graphics [ 1997 ]



collections

Newark Public Library, Newark, NJ
The Library, Inkjet; Ace Press [ 2006 ]
This Is How We Walk On The Moon, Inkjet, When Lips Press [ 2008 ]
Oh, You're Married, Inkjet, When Lips Press [ 2008 ]
Special Collections Library, Penn State University, Abington, PA
The Library, Inkjet, Ace Press [ 2006 ]
Visual Arts Library, SVA, New York, NY
Driving Home, Laser Print; Ace Press [ 2002 ]
Sallie Bingham Center Women's Zine Collections, Duke University, Durham, NC
Melissazine, Laser Print; Ace Press [ 1997 ]



teaching experience

Associate Professor of Graphic Design, Felician College, Lodi, NJ [ 2015 - Present ]
Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, Felician College, Lodi, NJ [ 2004 - 2015 ]
Chair of the Art and Music Department, Felician College, Lodi, NJ [ 2013 - 2014 ]
Coordinator of the Graphic Design Program, Felician College, Lodi, NJ [ 2005 - 2008 ]




classes taught

FYE 100, Freshman Year Experience (part 1)
FYE 101, Freshman Year Experience (part 2)
ART 102, Two Dimensional Design
ART 103, Form Space and Time
ART 122, Introduction to Graphic Design
ART 225, Art for Non-Majors
ART 225, BUS Art for Non-Majors, Federal Reserve And On Campus
ART 239, Mixed Media
ART 240, Introduction to Computer Graphics
ART 246, Computer Graphics: Image
ART 247, Computer Graphics: Type
ART 248, Computer Graphics: Layout
ART 311, Printmaking: Monoprint and Relief
ART 314, Book Arts
ART 315, Experiencing the Arts
ART 320, Comics and Zines
ART 361, Women in Art
ART 362, History of Graphic Design
ART 431, Advanced Projects I
ART 450, Senior Seminar II Graphic Design Concentration
ART 449, Senior Seminar I Graphic Design Concentration
ALCS 003, American Culture and Language Studies Through Art