Michel Varisco’s work explores the relationship between the natural world and man-made through photography, video, sculpture, printmaking and installations. She received her MFA from Tulane University and studied in France (Cleveland Art Institute) and Cortona, Italy (University of Georgia) and has taught at NOCCA|Riverfront since 1996. Teaching honors include several National Foundation for the Advancement in Teaching in the Arts awards and numerous Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for Teaching. In 2017, she was a featured artists in Prospect.4 Biennial. Public arts commissions include “Turning, prayer wheels for the Mississippi” via the City of New Orleans and “Fragile Land Rotunda” via the Arts Council of New Orleans on behalf of the Joan Mitchell Foundation. Varisco’s work is exhibited and published internationally and is included in public, private and corporate collections in the U.S. and abroad such as the National Library of Paris, The Ogden Museum, the Surdna Foundation collection and more. Selected exhibitions include The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, The Acadiana Center for the Arts, El Paso Museum of Art, the Huntington Museum of Art, Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art, Armory Center for the Arts, Gallery 1646, Den Hague, (Netherlands) Soho Photo Gallery, NY, The United States Embassy in Moscow, Russia, The Pingyao International Photography Festival, China. She has received awards through the Louisiana Division of the Arts, The Surdna Foundation teachers fellowship, and the Rauschenberg Foundation artist residencies. Varisco is a founder and former Vice President of the New Orleans Photo Alliance and is represented by A Gallery for Fine Photography.

Her website is: http://www.michelvarisco.com