Biography

Elissa Lieberman is a New York artist. She earned her M.F.A from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Hoffberger School of Painting while she taught at the Delaware College of Art and Design. Elissa moved to California in 2002 and taught in multiple colleges, universities, and ateliers before joining the San Diego Museum of Art to manage the art school. After a brief stint in Portland, Oregon, Elissa returned to California and founded the San Diego Art Loft, an art school specializing in painting and drawing from teen to adult and hosting the San Diego Life Drawing Group. The Art Loft closed in 2020 with the pandemic and a catastrophic flood. Elissa continued to paint as the work transformed from narrative to abstracted figuration distilling down to faces. Elissa relocated to New York City in January 2026 and continues to work in her Chelsea studio.