In his studies of subway architecture and municipal insignias, Dispensa contemplates visual denials of traumas past, the painted over and neglected scars of cyclical neoliberal assaults, and a glimmer of fermenting idealism hiding in the unseen labor that sustains our civic vitality.

Michael Dispensa (b. 1993 Queens NY,) is a multimedia artist and educator working in Brooklyn, NY. He graduated from The School of Visual Arts in 2016 with a BFA in illustration and received an MFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design in 2021. His work has been most recently included in group shows at Asya Geisberg Gallery, The RISD Museum, Stephen Street gallery, and Soloway Gallery. He was Artist in residence with Project Art in 2023, and currently works as an artist Instructor with Studio in a School, Ashcan Studio of Art, and Queens Public Library. 

MTA NewYorkState Monolith, 2024, steel, acrylic peels, aquaresin, duct tape