BIOGRAPHY
Tessa Heck (b.1990) is a visual artist and mother working in painting on paper and wood panel. Heck’s work plays with narratives around contemporary landscapes, motherhood, and explorations of both the beautiful and grotesque in her portraiture.
Heck received her BFA from Pacific Lutheran University and her MFA in Visual Studies from Pacific Northwest College of Art. Heck has shown in the Northwest at Kalico, the Museum of Contemporary Craft, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Montana Modern Fine Art, Disjecta, The Carle Gallery, Hap Gallery, Killjoy Collective, Jupiter Gallery , and Wildfang. Residencies include Western Creatives Initiatives Open AIR, Caldera Artist’s Residency, and PNCA’s Global Studios. She is the recipient of the Artists in Schools and Communities Grant (Montana Arts Council), and the Working Artist’s Grant. She currently lives and works in Kalispell, MT.
EDUCATION
MFA Visual Studies 2016. Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland OR
BFA Painting/Drawing 2012. Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma WA.
SHOWS/SOLO
2024 Sign of Life, Emerson Arts Center. Bozeman MT (March-April)
2023 Big Thaw, Good Luck Gallery. Kalispell MT
Way to Fast, Way too Slow, Hockaday Museum of Art. Kalispell MT
2017 Electric Eye, Jupiter Gallery. Portland OR
Boys Club Art Auction, Wildfang. Portland OR
REVEAL/CONCEAL, Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Portland OR
2015 Interior, Mill Commerce Center. Portland OR
2014 Homage, The Carle Gallery. Butte MT
SHOWS/GROUP
2024 Bloom One Year Anniversary, Good Luck Gallery. Kalispell, MT
Kalidescope Infinite Perspectives, Missoula Art Museum 24th Benefit Auction. Missoula, MT
2023 Downtown Art Challenge, Good Luck Gallery. Kalispell MT
GLOW! Open AIR Annual Fundraiser, Missoula Public Library. Missoula MT
Bright Spot, Good Luck Gallery. Kalispell MT
2022 Dog Days of Summer, Walking Man Gallery. Whitefish MT
2021 Watershed, Bigfork Arts & Cultural Center. Bigfork MT
2020 Quarantine Dreams, KALICO Art Center. Kalispell MT
2018 Confluence with Elise Davis, Montana Modern Fine Art. Kalispell MT
A Good Pink with Killjoy Collective, Portland Community College. Portland OR
2017 Disjecta's 11th Annual Artist Auction, Disjecta. Portland OR
soft/en, CEI Artworks. Corvallis OR
Nasty Women, Killjoy Collective. Portland OR
2016 Post, Killjoy Collective. Portland OR
PNCA MFA Visual Studies Thesis Exhibition 2016, Museum of Contemporary Craft. Portland OR
The Doer of Great Deeds and Speaker of Great Works, Hap Gallery. Portland OR
Unlucky in Love, Ugly Art Room. Corvallis OR
2015 The Stain, Graduate Pop-Up Show Portland, OR
Terminus Klause, Worksound International Portland, OR
First Year PNCA MFA VS Show, Disjecta Portland, OR (Curated by Libby Werbel)
Lifeline with Anastasia Greer, PNCA Graduate Gallery Portland OR
2014 Altered Ground, Disjecta. Portland OR
From Where I Stand, Zootown Arts. Missoula MT
AWARDS/RESIDENCIES
2023 Strategic Investment Grant, Montana Arts Council
2020 Artists in Schools and Communities Grant, Montana Arts Council
2019 Western Creatives Initiatives Open Air Residency
2017 Cathedral Park School Artist in Residence
2016 Working Artist Organization Grant
2015 Caldera Artist Residency
2015 Venice Biennale PNCA Global Studios
2014-15 PNCA Artistic Merit
2009-12 John & Ann Taylor Memorial Scholarship
2009-12 PLU Artistic Merit
COLLECTIONS
Glossier HQ, New York
INTERVIEWS + ARTICLES
Daily Interlake: Good Luck Gallery April 2024
Missoulian: Muralist Brings Mountain Flair February 2024
City Line with Central Neighborhood Council August 2022
Kalico: Art for All—Montana Woman Magazine August 2022
Go Local Magazine—Does Art Matter Fall 2021
S/PLI/T July 2017
VICE 50 States of Art April 2017
PUBLIC WORK
Snowbowl + Rattlesnake Mural, LOGE Missoula MT
Blooming Cups Sculpture, Kalispell MT
LOOKING PRETTY, GRIT CITY Mural, Tacoma WA
Jeannette Rankin Mural at Kalispell Brewing Company, Kalispell MT
IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY Mural at 127 Main St. Kalispell MT