A native of Denver, Colorado, Michelle La Perrière knew she would be an artist as a child. She has lived in Maryland since 1987, when she moved to Baltimore for graduate study with Grace Hartigan at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Her drawings, paintings, prints and mixed media collages combine image fragments from visual source materials with observed and imagined forms and spaces. Her work has been shown in the United States, France and Japan, and is in private and public collections including Syracuse University, the Borg-Warner Corporation, and AIDS Interfaith Residential Services.

Beginning her studies at The University of Colorado, Boulder, and Parsons School of Design, New York, she went on to receive her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has received Individual Artist Awards from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Art and Culture, numerous MICA faculty development grants, and MICA’s award for Excellence in Teaching. Select residencies include the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), Amherst, Virginia, Jentel Artist Residency, Banner, Wyoming (twice), The Hambidge Center for the Arts and Sciences, Rabun Gap, Georgia, The Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, New York, and The Alfred and Trafford Klots International Program for Artists, Brittany, France. She has been teaching at MICA since 1992, and served as Co-Chair of the Foundation Department for ten years (2000 to 2010).