Michael Eble was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He received a BFA degree in painting from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a MFA degree in painting and drawing from the University of Mississippi, in Oxford, Mississippi. He is currently Curator of Exhibitions, Events, and Engagement for the College of the Arts at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He also serves as Project Manager for the art subscription service BARE WALLS. He recently relocated back to Louisiana in 2016 from Minnesota where he was an Associate Professor of Studio Art and Curator of the Edward J. & Helen Jean Morrison Gallery at the University of Minnesota, Morris for thirteen years. Eble has shown his paintings and works on paper in numerous regional and national solo and group exhibitions, most recently in Louisiana, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. Eble was recently awarded a Artspark Grant from the Acadiana Center for the Arts, he has also been a recipient of several awards and grants from the University of Minnesota and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Michael continues to produce abstract paintings that focus on mapping and place. Michael is represented by Cole Pratt Gallery in New Orleans, LA.
Who makes up your art circle?
My art circle is made up of my wife and four sons, Basin Arts, Bare Walls Artists, ESA, and the faculty, staff, and students at the UL Lafayette College of the Arts. There is also a large circle in Minnesota where I lived for 13 years. There is a pocket of Minneapolis artists that I am still in contact with, along with a splattering of former students all over the Midwest, along with several rural artists. I am thankful for social media, which allows me to stay in contact with this circle and to continue to watch their creative growth.
How do you expand your art circle?
It’s about making the effort to go out and support people and to learn more about the arts every day. We are lucky to live in a community that offers a plethora of artistic outputs and creative content just about every night of the week. The problem is making time for it… it requires effort and openness to meet new people and cultivate relationships, it’s not easy for everyone, for myself it is required work, that sometimes I find difficult.
What value do you see in having a creative community?
You can’t always live in the studio, there is just so much to gain from interacting with a creative community, whether it’s learning about a funding or exhibition opportunities or simply venting to a friend about work. Being an artist does not mean you have to self isolate… Artists live healthy and happy normal lives every day.
How does your artistic approach contribute to your community?
I often see my artistic approach as a selfish practice, the time I get to be alone and working in my studio precious. I feel I contribute more to my community through my role as a curator for the UL Lafayette College of the Arts and for the Bare Walls program. I enjoy the process of organizing exhibitions and presenting public exhibition weather they are in traditional spaces or in a commercial office building. I feel like a cultural ambassador, bringing the arts to the masses whether it’s my own or my creative community.
