MELISSA LEANDRO (American, b. 1989 in Miami, FL) lives and works in Chicago, IL. She received her MFA in 2017 and her BFA in 2012, both from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Residencies include Haystack Mountain School of Craft (Deer Isle, ME), The Vermont Studio Center, The Atlantic Center for the Arts, The Ragdale Foundation, The Jacquard Center, and the Weaving Mill and was the recipient of the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation Artadia Award in 2021. Solo exhibitions include ANDREW RAFACZ (Chicago, IL), Waubonsee Community College (Waubonsee, IL), and the University of Nebraska (Omaha, NE). Group exhibitions include Marshall J. Gardner Center for the Arts (Gary, IN), ANDREW RAFACZ (Chicago, IL), Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (Chicago, IL), The Peeler Art Center, DePaul University (Chicago, IL), Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago, IL), Soho House (Chicago IL), Dunedin Fine Art Center (Dunedin, FL), Kent State University Galleries (Kent, OH), Pentimenti Gallery (Philadelphia, PA), and The Arts Club of Chicago (Chicago, IL). She has exhibited at art fairs in Chicago, Houston, Miami, New York, and Toronto. Her work is included in numerous public and private collections.