“Auto Alejamiento,” installation view, 2025, includes furniture work upholstered and designed by the artist. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Teaching Artist Cohort
2025
Melissa Leandro (American, b.1989) lives in Chicago. Her practice explores cultural identity and family memories through vibrant, layered textile works that incorporate both drawn and collected imagery. Using traditional and nontraditional techniques such as needlework, quilting, weaving, and batik dyeing, she reflects on family history, childhood fantasies, and nostalgic cultural ephemera. She received an MFA (2017) and a BFA (2012) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is presently at the Institute as a Lecturer. Leandro was awarded the Artadia Award (2021), the Craft Fellowship Grant from the Illinois Arts Council (2020), and the Windgate Foundation Fellowship from Vermont Studio Center Residency (2021). She has had recent solo exhibitions at the University Club of Chicago, Union League Club of Chicago, Rockford (Illinois) University, the Wright Museum of Art (Beloit, Wisconsin), ANDREW RAFACZ Gallery (Chicago), Frieze Art Fair New York (2020, 2021), Intersect Palm Springs (2023), NADA Fair Miami (2023), Expo Chicago (2023), and Dallas Art Fair (2024). Recent group exhibitions include the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, DePaul Art Museum (Chicago), and the Lubeznik Center for the Arts (Michigan City, Indiana). She has participated in residencies, including the Vermont Studio Center, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Ragdale Foundation, Ox-Bow School of Art, Crosstown Arts, the Textiel Lab, and BOLT–Chicago Artists Coalition. Leandro is represented by ANDREW RAFACZ Gallery in Chicago. Her work is included in numerous public and private collections.
Selected works
“In your loneliness [con tu soledad],” 2025, jacquard woven cloth, hand and machine stitching, foil, embroidery, 59 x 62 x 1.5 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“Look in the mirror [mirate en el espejo],” 2025, jacquard woven cloth, hand and machine stitching, foil, 51 x 51 x 1.5 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“Auto Alejamiento,” installation view, 2025, includes furniture work upholstered and designed by the artist. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“Let me stay here [déjame quedarme aquí],” 2025, jacquard woven cloth, hand and machine stitching, foil, couching, embroidery, 50 x 73 x 1.5 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“Blemished,” 2025, jacquard woven cloth, hand and machine stitching, foil, 54 x 52 x 1.5 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
“Rip to pieces [romper en pedazos],” 2025, jacquard woven cloth, hand and machine stitching, embroidery, couching, foil, 54 x 52 x 1.5 in. Photo courtesy of the artist.
67 Broadway St, Asheville, NC 28801
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Gallery Hours: Closed — Reopening Fall 2019
