Mia Bergeron ~ Figurative painter

New York artist Mia Bergeron’s interest in art was cultivated early on, beginning with continuous exposure to visual works through her parents’ graphic design firm in New York City. As a high school student, Mia pursued the arts both at the curricular and extracurricular levels, and in 1998 she was admitted to the Rhode Island School of Design. After a year of intensive foundation courses, she decided to leave RISD to pursue a more traditional painting program.

I was born in New York City to two graphic designers. In 1998, I was admitted into the Rhode Island School of design. After a year of foundation classes, I left RISD to move to Boston, where I worked at the Museum of Fine Arts. In 2002, I moved to Florence, Italy, to study at the Charles Cecil Studio.

I studied and taught classical portrait painting for 3 years there. In 2006, I moved to Chattanooga, Tn, where I now reside as a professional portrait painter. I am also working on a grant to paint 9 portraits of local residents to help promote social awareness. I just recently started a school of fine art named the 8th Street Studios.

"When I was in school in Italy, I was constantly told I was better at getting an overall effect than I was at achieving detail. This was seen as a weakness, and I was also told I was a temperamental painter. For years I thought these two 'defects' would hurt my work. In the past year, I've really worked on making my vulnerabilities my strengths. Instead of denying that I am an erratic painter and that I like big, overall effects (like mood, for instance), I decided to accept those parts of me and even play them up in these paintings".