Michelle de Celia

Michelle de Celia (aka Koza) is a Brazilian and American Worcester-based artist, writer, and educator. Her art practice spans performance, poetry, and visual art, examining power, identity, and femininity. She is a co-founder of the Council of Radiants Artist Collective and serves on the board of the Worcester Artist Group. Her visual and mixed-media work have been exhibited widely in Worcester-area galleries, including Arts Worcester, Hunchback Gallery, and JMAC. Michelle is the recipient of several grants and fellowships. Her current community teaching project, Gathering Ground is supported by the Worcester Arts Council project grant and is hosted at The Village Worcester. Development for the course was supported by the NEFA PALF grant. Michelle is also currently working on a poetry manuscript called Prophetic Exercises, supported by the Worcester County Poetry Association’s Dan Lewis Fellowship. 

Alongside her artistic practice, Michelle has an extensive career in education, having taught English and creative writing for over fifteen years, and served as English Department Chair and Director of the Young Writers Conference at The Bancroft School in Worcester, MA.