ARTIST BIOGRAPHY   

Mike Manthey was raised in a small farming community in south-central Wisconsin.  He attended the University of Wisconsin – Madison, receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree in Art in 1979.  In 1990 he was accepted into the University of Wisconsin Department of Art Graduate Program.  Granted a Teaching Assistant Scholarship, he taught studio courses in Drawing and Design to undergraduate students from 1990 to 1993 while completing graduate work.  In December 1993 he received a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison with an emphasis in Painting and Drawing. He moved to Chicago in the spring of 1996 and joined the faculty of the Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago in the fall of that year.  He taught drawing studios in the school’s Foundation Department for 20 years, until June of 2016.  He is now enjoying retirement and pursuing his own studio practice and research. His ongoing interest in Buddhism and eastern meditation practices continues to strongly influence his aesthetic sensibility and studio practice. He hopes those interested will view his paintings as “open space” to be enjoyed on its own terms.