Michele Bosak (Chicago, IL) is a curator currently based in Grand Rapids, MI. She holds an MFA from Northern Illinois University in Drawing and Museum Studies, where she was the recipient of the Medici Award and a Distinguished University Fellowship. Since 2013 she's fulfilled the role as Curator of Exhibitions for Kendall College of Art & Design. Working for a non-collecting institution, she curates original exhibitions and programming designed to engage both academics and the local community.
Michele encourages a deeper awareness of contemporary creation and showcases a diverse cross-section of challenging contemporary works from both artists and designers who are good humans and who reflect on the positive impacts they can create in varied social, cultural, political and economic interests. She examines contemporary discourses at the intersection of art, design, and technology with an emphasis on women and queer culture.
As an experienced artist, Michele has great insight into the guidance and management of artists throughout the creative process and serves as a mentor to both students and peers. In addition to curating independently and institutionally for the past ten years, she is also an art and design consultant.
Photo Credit: Matt Gubancsik
Artist: Juile Green, The Last Supper
E D U C A T I O N
Master of Fine Arts, Drawing / Sculpture
Museum Studies Certification,
Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL
University Fellowship Recipient and Medici Award for Graduate Achievement
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Sculpture
Kendall College of Art and Design, Grand Rapids, MI
Academic Honors
S E L E C T C U R A T O R I A L P R O J E C T S
Curator of Exhibitions, Fed Galleries at Kendall College of Art and Design, Grand Rapids, MI
2020 Selling Sexism, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
2019 IGNITE: Emerging Curator Project - Mandy Cano
Surface Matters: Designing for the Body, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Overlap+Dissolve: A Lifelong Collaboration, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
2018 She Stares Back, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Focus on KCAD | Collections, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Focus on Faculty | Influence, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
The Sum of Its Parts - Jason Peters, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
2017 Resort - Andrew Ellis Johnson and Susanne Slavick, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Knockoffs: Originality, Theft, and Everything In Between, Curator, Exhibition Designer
Society of Spectacle, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Shape of Self | Work by Riva Lehrer, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Sentimental Ornamentation, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Left Behind | Work by Jennifer Loeber, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
2016 Cultural Landscapes, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Thukral + Tagra: Walk of Life, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Ripple Effect: From Industry to Environment in the Kalamazoo River Basin
Darshan | Seeing, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
2015 Sightlines, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Evolution of the Artist, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
2014 Humor in Craft, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Shifting Landscapes | Work by Michael Pfleghaar, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Michigan Modern: Killing It, Co-Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Money Matters, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Assuming Positions, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Always New, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
2013 Graphic Design: Now in Production (Traveling) Coordinator
Contemporaries: Then and Now, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Designed to Win, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
2012 Progressions: Syd Mead, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Role/Play, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Drawn: Kim Cridler and Jonathan Wahl, Coordinator, Exhibition Designer
Acts of Recognition, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
2011 Then Again, Maybe Not, Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Cosmic Theater | Selected Works by Michiko Itatani, Curator, Exhibition Design
2010 Justin Quinn; Recent Works, Coordinator, Exhibition Designer, Kendall Gallery
Ethan Murrow: Drawings and Prints, Curator, Coordinator
2009 Kelli Connell: Photographs, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Other Curatorial Projects
2010 dis.place.ment, UICA-Lead Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
2009 Material Afterlife, UICA-Lead Curator, Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
2008 Gabriel Bizen Akagawa: CrateSpace, NIU Museum-Coordinator
Peggy Macnamara: Nature Paintings, NIU Museum-Exhibition Designer, Coordinator
Revisiting Modern Japanese Prints, NIU Museum-Organizer
Ayomi Yoshida: Yedoensis, NIU Museum-Organizer
2007 BEing OPEN: 30 Years, 30 Artists, 30, Careers, UICA-Lead Curator, Exhibition Designer
2006 Drawing No Conclusions: A Survey of Contemporary Drawing, UICA-Lead Curator,
Exhibition, Designer, Coordinator
Awards Juror: Dominic Molon, Curator Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL
Blue Sky, Black Earth: Meditations on the Meeting of the Sky and Land, NIU Museum-Exhibition Designer, Organizer
Undercover: An Exhibition of Artists’ Books, UICA-Co-Curator, Organizer
Succession: A Painting Exhibition, UICA-Co-Curator, Organize
2005 Exposure X 9, UICA-Co-Curator, Organizer
2004 Fresh Materials, UICA-Co-Curator, Organizer
(Re)Narrate, UICA-Co-Curator, Organizer
New Abstractions, UICA-Co-Curator, Organizer
2003 The Funnel, UICA-Co-Curator
E X H I B I T I O N S
2015 Queering, Group Exhibition, Spiral Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
2013 Variations On A Line, Group Exhibition, Grand Rapids, MI
Installation Nation, Group Exhibition, Primary Colours, Indianapolis, IN
Slide Wars, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids, MI
ArtPrize, Old Federal Building, Grand Rapids, MI
NEVER THINK small!, Group Exhibition, Climate/Gallery, Long Island, NY
2009 Little Hang Ups, Group Exhibition, Bryneboehm Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
Mixed Bag, Group Exhibition, Gallery 104, Grand Rapids, MI
Cross-Pollination, Group Exhibition, Surface Gallery, Bakersfield, CA
2010 Site Lab, Grand Rapids, MI
Death Wins, Richard App Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
whereabouts, Two-person exhibition with Kim Strom, Cave44, Challex, France
(a)wake, Group Exhibition, 89 Ionia, Grand Rapids, MI
2011 Associations, Group Exhibition, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, Grand Rapids,
10 x 10 : UNIFORM, Group Exhibition, Suite 100 Gallery, Seattle, WA
Pile Up, Group Exhibition, Chicago Arts District Exhibitions Space, Chicago , IL
The Space Foundation in partnership with UICA, Grand Rapids and Detroit, MI
19th Annual Women of Achievement and Courage Celebration, The Michigan Women's
2008 Mountain: A Force of Faketure, Group Exhibition, Beverly Arts Center, Chicago, IL
Between Us, Solo Exhibition, Gallery Noir, Grand Rapids, MI,
The Space Between Us, MFA Exhibition, 214 Gallery, DeKalb, IL
The Polish Connection, Group Exhibition, Nehring Gallery, DeKalb, IL
Gabriel Bizen Akagawa: Unpacked/Offset, Group Exhibition, Collaboration with Jessica Witte,
NIU Art Museum, Rotunda Gallery, DeKalb, IL
2007 Getting Closer, Two-person Exhibition with Kelly Allen, Byrneboehm Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
Pamiatki, Akademia Sztuk Piknych w Katowicach, Katowice, Poland
A Common Line, Group Exhibition, Gallery 214, DeKalb, IL
Conception, Group Exhibition, Pleasant Street Gallery, DeKalb, IL
Message Sent…, Group Exhibition, Gallery 214, DeKalb, IL
Postcard Salon Exhibition, Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI
2006 Sculpture Review, Group Exhibition, Pleasant Street Gallery, DeKalb, IL
Breaking Ground, Group Exhibition, #9 Design, Elmhurst, IL
Group Graduate Show, Pleasant Street Gallery, DeKalb, IL
Memoir, Group Exhibition, Blue Door Gallery, DeKalb, IL
Green Space, Group Exhibition, Courtyard Installation, Jack Arends School of Art NIU,DeKalb, IL
Recycled Moments, Solo Exhibition, Bad Dog Gallery, DeKalb, IL
Space 1, Group Exhibition, Free Radical Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
Kitties, Cats, and Hand Grenades, Group Exhibition, Pleasant Street Gallery, DeKalb, IL
Women’s History, Group Exhibition, Dekalb Area Women’s Gallery, DeKalb, IL
Graduate Group Exhibition, Jack Olson Gallery, DeKalb, IL
2005 Jekyll & Hyde, Group Exhibition, Pleasant Street Gallery, DeKalb, IL
2004 A Common Dialogue, Visual Arts Committee Collaborative Exhibition, Urban Institute for
Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI
2003 Observation of the Flesh, Two-Person Exhibition, Student Gallery, Kendall College of Art And
Design
2002 5 x 5 x 5, Group Exhibition, Lo-Fi Project Site, Grand Rapids, MI
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