About The Artist

Professional Experience Since 1987 Mikel has worked as Stage Manager for The Metropolitan Museum of Art. His responsibilities have included coordinating and managing all aspects of live events in the 708 seat Grace Rainey Rogers auditorium as well as events in gallery spaces throughout the museum. He has also been in charge of scheduling the Auditorium for other museum departments as well as outside corporate and not for profit rentals of the Auditorium. Mikel has worked closely with practically every department in the Metropolitan Museum on many different projects and programs. Mikel met and worked with artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Christo & Jeanne-Claude, Chuck Close and Patti Smith. Artist Experience Education: Mikel Frank holds an M.F.A. degree in painting from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY and a B.F. A. degree from MICA. Mikel has exhibited in shows and competitions throughout the country and his work is in many private collections. From 2002 to 2014 he taught an art critique group called The Contemporary Artists Forum. From 2001 to 2014 Mikel was on the Advisory Board of the 1978 Maplewood Arts Center, serving as Vice President of the Executive Board and co-chair of the exhibitions committee. From 2014-15 he co-chaired the Maplewood Arts Council in Maplewood, NJ. In February 2005 he was a member of the installation crew on Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s “Gates Project in Central Park, 1975-2005,” in New York City. Along with his other 5 crew members he built 99 gates. In October 2005 he organized a fund raiser exhibition called “Breast Cancer: An Artists View” at the 1978 Maplewood Arts Center. Donations: Mikel has donated his paintings to fundraisers which benefitting such organizations as the Pierro Gallery in South Orange, NJ, the Children’s Museum of the Arts in New York City and the Education Foundation of Millburn-Short Hills, NJ. In 2011 Mikel donated a painting for an auction fundraiser to help support educational programs at The New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, Summit, NJ. Commissions: In 2009 The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra asked Mikel to donate his talents to create an original work of art for the NJSO yearly auction/fundraiser, “Art Strings,” using a raw unfinished violin as his “canvas.” In 2013 South Orange Performing Art Center asked Mikel to be part of a auction/fundraiser for the institution by using a piano as his “canvas.” Curator: In 2013-14 Mikel co-curated and exhibited in, MICA: Then & Now, an exhibition made up of alumni from Maryland Institute College of Art’s undergraduate program. Among the forty artists included were Frank Hyder, Donald Baechler, Jeff Koons and Joyce Scott. Exhibitions: In 2008 Mikel had two one person exhibitions at local New Jersey venues: The Donald B. Palmer Museum, Springfield, NJ and the Rosiland & Alfred Lippman Art Gallery, Short Hills, NJ. In 2009 Mikel had a one person exhibition of his paintings and encaustics at Gavroche, West 14th St., New York, NY. In 2010 he was invited to have a one person exhibition at the Livingston Arts Council, Livingston, NJ. In 2014-15 two of his paintings were included in the exhibition, “Now You See Me” curated by City Without Walls, Newark, NJ.