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"A national treasure"
- The Children's Museum
of Southeastern Connecticut
"Shasha creates windows into
a world full of detail"
- The New York Times
"The rarest of artists..."
- The Salem News
"Alluring and dreamy..."
- The New York Times
Winner of the
Shining Star
Award
OPA Member
Oil Painters
of America
Note to
Readers
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Mark Shasha
is an award-winning fine artist. He is also an award-winning author and
illustrator, an award-winning educator, an actor and a songwriter. His
paintings, drawings and prints are found in public and private
collections around the world and have appeared in galleries and museums
for more than two decades. His children's books appear regularly on bestseller lists and have been read by millions worldwide.
1961-1992
Early Years
Mark grew up by the sea in New
London, Connecticut. A love of painting, drawing and telling stories led him to
the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence where his art instructors
included Chris Van Allsburg (author and illustrator of Jumanji
and The Polar Express) the painter Trent Burleson and Bauhaus
colorist Sy Sillman.
After graduation in 1983, Shasha moved to Boston where he found work as an
illustrator at newspapers and magazines including
The Boston Globe, The Phoenix, Boston Magazine and several
national publications.
Shasha's first book, Night of the Moonjellies
(Simon&Schuster), published in 1992, was inspired by his childhood
memories of working at his grandmother's hot dog stand in the early
1970s. It was greeted as "a classic" by Smithsonian Magazine,
received a Marion Vannett Ridgway Award
and was praised by Booklist, Publisher's Weekly, Sesame Street
and many others. Shasha also went on to write and illustrate other works
including The Hall of Beasts (Simon&Schuster), a quiet story about the magic of art.
A highly unusual picture book, Beasts has found a different
audience.
1992 - 1999
The
Visiting Author
As the popularity of his books continued to grow Shasha was invited to
schools and libraries to read his books and to introduce children to the
world of writing and illustrating. Shasha expanded
these visits into original and wide-ranging performances full of music, art history,
math, and ideas about the creative process.
Mark's visits brought rave reviews and yet more invitations. He traveled
from Concord, New Hampshire to Kansas City, Missouri in his trademark
yellow suit. By the end of the 1990’s more than
140,000 children in 220 schools and libraries had heard Shasha's unique
presentations.
In 1999 The Children's Museum of
Southeastern Connecticut awarded Shasha the
Shining Star Award for his
"Outstanding contribution to the education of young people." Previous
winners include the explorer Robert Ballard who found the Titanic.
1999
-
2008
A Full-Time Artist
Shasha eventually left the education and publishing worlds to return
full-time to oil painting and his continuing study of contemporary
realism.
Shasha's work has been seen in more than 50 gallery and museum exhibitions nationwide including
The Lyman Allyn Museum of New London, Storyopolis
in Los Angeles, The Society of Illustrators in New York City and
Locco Ritoro of Boston. His work has shared exhibition space with artists as diverse as Christo, David Macaulay,
Jeff Koons, Harry Vincent, Paul Strisik and Emile Gruppe. Shasha's list of solo exhibitions includes a
2003 retrospective at The Pacific Street Gallery of New London
which featured book illustrations, sketchbooks and drawings from his early years.
Mark Today
Today Mark is a full-time
painter. A life-long fascination with coastal light and textures brings
him to the seashore for much of his work. His paintings continue to win
awards and demand for his work has grown steadily since the turn of the
century. Shasha is
listed in The
American Artists Bluebook
and he is represented on the island of Martha's Vineyard,
Massachusetts by The Willoughby
Gallery in Edgartown.
Meanwhile, his books are read
worldwide and regularly appear on several bestseller lists.
"Night of the Moonjellies" is a
Smithsonian Notable Book, is recommended by
Read Aloud America and is
considered by Five in a Row to be "one of the best books ever
published for children."
When he is not painting Shasha is likely to be acting or singing on a
stage.
With his guitar often within reach, he occasionally performs in
local venues. He has also had key roles as an actor in several notable Boston area productions including The
Sound of Music, Oliver!, Roger's and Hammerstein's
Cinderella, Fiddler on the Roof (as 'Motel the Tailor'),
and Peter Pan.
Mark Shasha most recently starred as Cogsworth
in an award-winning production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Shasha has
also appeared on television, film and video and has been a subject of
National Public Radio programs
over the years.
Shasha lives with his wife and children on the North Shore of Boston.
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