Born and raised in Iowa, Matt Merkel Hess first made art in the studio of his mother, fiber artist Mary Merkel-Hess. While studying journalism at The University of Kansas, he took a community pottery class and was hooked. After relocating to Los Angeles, he returned to school, studying at Pasadena City College, CSU-Long Beach, and received an MFA from UCLA in 2010.
He has exhibited widely, and has work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston; The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, Calif.; The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland Park, Kansas; and The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art in Iowa.
In 2015, Merkel Hess moved to New York City where he lives and works.
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