Mary Milelzcik was born and raised Chicopee Massachusetts. She has a B.A. from Sonoma State University’s School of Expressive Arts in California. This was a radical two-year upper division interdisciplinary experimental program that existed for several years in the 70’s. Students, in consultation with faculty advisors and colleagues, designed their own course of study and were free to choose both the subjects and the media for their personal expression. Mary immersed herself in the world of printmaking at SSU and assisted Shane Weare in teaching etching, and later assisting master printer Daniel Freeman at Freeman Studios. She was one of two teaching assistants at SSU in the papermaking program, working with visiting papermakers.
In the mid 1970’s Mary and her ohana lived on Oahu, before returning to the mainland. Family matriarch Hawaiian quilt maker Jenny Montgomery, whose unique Hawaiian quilts are in the collection at the Kauai Museum, taught Mary about Hawaiian and family history, Hawaiian arts and culture, and the aina.
Her transformative education and life experiences set the path for an interesting career as a mixed media artist, photographer and teacher, and also for 10 years as the Curator and Administrative Director at Highways Performance Space and Gallery. In 2016 she returned to live full time in Hawaii, and spends time at Arts Asylum, her Pahoa studio doing experimental mixed media, using traditional materials to create contemporary art, and teaching art classes.
ARTS ASYLUM
Arts Asylum studio was started in 1998 by Mary in Venice CA as a place to create art and to encourage others to experiment. Arts Asylum evolved to include workshops with mixed media art experiences for adults and children incorporating materials from the aina. Mary teaches a Promote Yourself Workshop for artists. (originally held at Highways Performance Space and Gallery in Santa Monica CA, where she was the Gallery Curator and Administrative Director for 10 years.)
In 2016 Mary moved permanently to Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii. Arts Asylum, a 600 sq ft open-air mixed media studio is located in a rainforest . The studio is surrounded by a permaculture garden (under construction), that includes fiber and dye plants. There are dedicated areas for encaustic painting, papermaking, and printmaking. There is also indoor space for digital design and printing, with additional workspace.
In addition to Arts Asylum studio classes in papermaking, printmaking, and encaustic painting, Mary has taught encaustic classes at the Volcano Art Center and the Donkey Mill, and papermaking classes for kids, ages 7 – 12, at the East Hawaii Cultural Center.
During the 2020 Covid Pandemic Arts Asylum partnered with the East Hawaii Cultural Center (EHCC) to provide arts and craft boxes for families. Currently, Arts Asylum is open for small workshops in encaustic mixed media painting and papermaking for individuals and small groups up to 4 people (by appointment only).