Paolo Arao is a Filipino-American artist working with textiles and site-responsive installations. He received his BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Recent solo exhibitions include: David B. Smith Gallery (Denver, CO), The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (Omaha, NE), The Columbus Museum (Georgia), Morgan Lehman Gallery (NYS), and Western Exhibitions (Chicago).
He has participated in residencies at: Monson Arts, MacDowell, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Art Omi, Bemis Center, The Museum of Arts and Design (NYC), Millay Arts, Studios at MASS MoCA, Vermont Studio Center, NARS Foundation, Wassaic Project, and the Fire Island Artist Residency. Arao has taught workshops at Penland School of Craft, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and The Museum of Arts and Design (NYC). His work has been published in New American Paintings, Maake Magazine, ArtMaze, Dovetail and Esopus. Paolo Arao is a 2021 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Painting from The New York Foundation for the Arts and a 2023-2024 Pollock-Krasner Foundation grantee. He lives and works in New York.
Photo curtesy of Kristina Williamson
