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About Melinda Steffy >

​Based in Philadelphia, visual artist Melinda Steffy (she/her) centers her creative practice around information and translation – looking at diverse ways humans communicate and pass along information over time. She develops her own systems for converting music or spoken language into abstract geometric artworks, encoding the data in color and shape.

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Her artwork has been exhibited at Tiger Strikes Asteroid (Philadelphia & New York), Woodmere Art Museum, InLiquid, Philadelphia's City Hall, 20*20 House, Rowan University, Villanova University, Finlandia University, and the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, among many others.

 

She was commissioned by Eastern Mennonite University to create 100 paintings based on a Mennonite hymn in honor of their Centennial, and by Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church to create a series of works based on J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio.  She is currently artist-in-residence at Manheim Township Middle School, creating a mural based on their school song.

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Melinda is an artist member of InLiquid and a LEADERSHIP Philadelphia fellow, and she was a prize-winner in the 29th annual Faber Birren Color Award Show. Melinda previously taught art for young children at Woodland Montessori School and has been a guest lecturer and visiting artist at Tyler School of Art, Arcadia University, Friends Central School, and Finlandia University. Melinda received a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from The University of the Arts and a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Mennonite University.

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Melinda is also an experienced nonprofit executive. In 2020 she launched her own consulting practice, Concentric Strategy, which provides planning and communication services for arts and education organizations. 

Exhibitions >

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2019, Ruination Day, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2017, Graphic Notation: Visualizing the Music of J.S. Bach, Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, Bryn Mawr, PA

  • 2017, The Score Is Not the Music, InLiquid @ Crane Arts, The Hall, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2015, The Score Is Not the Music, Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, Harrisonburg, VA

  • 2015, Chromography: Writing in Color, two-person show with Gerard Brown, Rowan University Art Gallery, Glassboro, NJ

  • 2012, Rudimentary, The Music School of Delaware, Wilmington, DE

  • 2011, Myth/Memory, InLiquid @ Crane Arts, The Hall, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2010, Collecting Stones: Minerals and Material Memory, The Grantham Church Art Gallery, Grantham, PA

  • 2010, Remnants and Residual Memories, Finlandia University, Hancock, MI

  • 2009, Remnants and Residual Memories, Villanova University, Radnor Township, PA

  • 2009, Vegetable/Mineral, The Music School of Delaware, Wilmington, DE

  • 2008, Particular Memories (Amid the Vast Emptiness of Forgetting), Sam Quinn Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2006, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Remnant, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2005, Halfway, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA

  • 2003, Mural, In Remembrance, Tshwane Leadership Foundation, South Africa

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Selected Group Exhibitions

  • 2022, It's the Little Things, 20*20 House, Lansdowne, PA

  • 2022, Synesthesia, two-person show with Andrew Chalfen, curated by InLiquid, The National, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2019, The Woodmere Annual, juried by Eileen Neff, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2019, Pattern Burst, InLiquid @ The Yard, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2018, Creative Women of Lansdowne, 20*20 House, Lansdowne, PA

  • 2017, Flat File 2017-2018, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Brooklyn, NY

  • 2017, 10x10x100, curated by Ashley Sauder Miller, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA

  • 2016, POST Featured Exhibition, curated by the Center for Emerging Visual Artists, the Art Gallery at City Hall, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2016, Beyond Cold Polished Stones, curated by Anthony Campuzano, 20*20 House, Lansdowne, PA

  • 2013, Member Show, InLiquid @ Crane Arts, The Ice Box, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2012, Outside/Inside the Box, FiberPhiladelphia, the Ice Box at Crane Arts, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2011, RSVP, New Wilmington Art Association, 605 North Market Street, Wilmington, DE

  • 2011, New Wilmington Painting, New Wilmington Art Association, Tower Hill School, Wilmington, DE

  • 2010, Making It, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2010, Visual Fringe, Fringe Wilmington, Wilmington, DE

  • 2009, Eyes on the Earth: Sustainability Through the Eyes of Artists, George School, Newtown, PA

  • 2009, Faber Birren Color Award Show, third prize winner, Stamford Art Association, Stamford, CT

  • 2008, Grand Small Works, F.U.E.L. Collection, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2008, Metaphoric Sunrise/Sunset, MicroMuseum, Brooklyn, NY

  • 2008, Currents, Studio Montclair, Montclair, NJ

  • 2007, Fiber National, Lancaster Art Museum, Lancaster, PA

  • 2007, Annual Members Juried Exhibition, Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE

Commissions & Awards >

  • 2017, selected for Tiger Strikes Asteroid NY’s 2017-2018 Flat File program

  • 2017, Jauchzet, frohlocket!, commissioned by Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, based on J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio

  • 2016, six-oh-six, commissioned by Eastern Mennonite University in honor of their Centennial, based on hymn #606 in the old Mennonite hymnal

  • 2009, prize-winner, 29th annual Faber Birren Color Award Show

Residencies, Teaching, & Community Engagement >

  • 2022-2023, artist-in-residence, Manheim Township Middle School

  • 2011-2020, executive director, LiveConnections

  • 2018 & 2016, guest lecturer, Friends Central School

  • 2017 & 2010, guest lecturer, Tyler School of Art

  • 2015-2017, guest lecturer, Arcadia University

  • 2010, visiting artist, Finlandia University

  • 2008, faculty, Summer Institute for the Gifted, Bryn Mawr College

  • 2007-2011, staff, The Music School of Delaware

  • 2004-2006, faculty, Woodland Montessori School

  • 2003, volunteer, Tshwane Leadership Foundation, South Africa

Press >

Publication >

  • 2009, “Levels of Reality, Unreality”—Eileen Neff at Locks Gallery, The Bulletin, March 5, 2009

  • 2009, “Ten Tactile (But Not Touchable) Things to See at ICA”—Anthony Campuzano, Joshua Mosley and “Dirt on Delight” at the Institute of Contemporary Art, The Bulletin, March 4, 2009

  • 2008, “The Architecture of a Community”—Gees Bend quilts at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Bulletin, September 17, 2008

  • 2008, “Beauty from a Bygone Era”—Kimono at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Bulletin, April 29, 2008

  • 2008, “Puppets, in All Their Glory”—“The Puppet Show” at the Institute of Contemporary Art, The Bulletin, March 5, 2008

  • 2008, “Tibetan Buddhist Mandala in Process at Cathedral”—The Bulletin, January 29, 2008

  • 2007, “Viewer’s Guide to Contemporary Art”—various exhibits in Old City, Philadelphia, The Bulletin, November 30, 2007

  • 2007, “Eye Catching Exhibits Draw Viewers Inside”—“Storefront” at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, The Bulletin, November 20, 2007

  • 2007, “Pencil-and-Gouache Exhibit at Pentimenti Contrasts the Natural with the Constructed”—Rebecca Rothfus at Pentimenti, The Bulletin, November 8, 2007

  • 2007, “Textbook Perfect: ‘Anatomy of the Book’ at Fleischer Art Memorial”—book arts group show at Fleischer Art Memorial, The Bulletin, October 16, 2007

  • 2007, “’Big Love’ at Locks Gallery”—Polly Apfelbaum at Locks Gallery, The Bulletin, October 9, 2007

  • 2007, “Revel in Renoir”—Renoir at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Bulletin, October 2, 2007

  • 2007, “A New Place to Worship Art”—opening of the Perelman Building at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Bulletin, September 28, 2007

  • 2007, “Daring, Deafening and Different: ICA’s New Exhibit an Interactive Romp Through Artistic Imagination”—Eileen Neff, Jay Heikes and “Ensemble” at the Institute of Contemporary Art, The Bulletin, September 13, 2007

  • 2007, “‘Flights into Fantasy’ Captures Imagination Through Illustration”—“Flights into Fantasy” at the Brandywine River Museum, The Bulletin, September 11, 2007
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