Education
2004 M.F.A. Fine Arts, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2001 B.A. Fine Arts, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA.
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2025 Western Wave, Vanessa Marsh and Joni Sternbach, Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA (upcoming)
2020 The Sun Beneath the Sky, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2019 The Sun Beneath the Sky, SFO Museum, San Francisco, CA
2017 Everywhere All at Once, Schilt Publishing and Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
Falling, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2016 Everywhere All at Once - Photographs by Vanessa Marsh, Foley Gallery, New York, NY
Vanessa Marsh, SFO Museum, San Francisco, CA
2015 Everywhere All at Once, photo-eye Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Everywhere All at Once, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Celestial Vistas, Robert Kooima and Vanessa Marsh, New Museum of Los Gatos, Los Gatos, CA
2014 Falling, Artist in Residence Exhibition, Rayko Photo Center, San Francisco, CA
2013 Everywhere/Always, Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, UT\
2012 Dreams of the Darkest Night, Works by Vanessa Marsh and Sean McFarland, Richard L. Nelson Gallery, UC Davis, Davis, CA
2011 The Space Between, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 Always Close but Never Touching, Ampersand, San Francisco, CA
Select Group Exhibitions
2025 Salon, Euqinom Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2024 California Gold, Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Alternative Process, Soho Photo Gallery, New York, NY
Lost and Found, curated by Michael Kirchoff, Colorado Photographic Art Center, Denver, CO
Pacific Northwest Drawers, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR
Size Matters, Medium Festival of Photography, The Athenaeum Art Center, San Diego, CA
2023 Pacific Northwest Drawers, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR
Hold Up Half the Sky, Dallas Center for Photography, Dallas, TX
2022 A Library of Forms, Robert F Agrella Art Gallery, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, CA
The National: Best Contemporary Photography 2022, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
Reimaging Wet Plate: Likeness and Landscape, curated by Joni Sternbach, Penumbra Foundation, New York, NY
Bujumbura 2022, Art in Embassies, US State Department, Bujumbura, Burundi
2021 South East North West: New Works from the Collection, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
Becoming, curated by Erica Deeman, St.Joseph’s Art Society, San Francisco, CA
Photography Without a Lens: An Exploration of Alternate Processes, Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, Providence, RI
2020 Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Constructed Landscapes, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
2020 Print Auction Exhibition, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX
2019 Surreal Sublime, ICA San Jose, San Jose, CA
LandEscapes, David Norton Gallery, Hudson, NY
The Sheltering Sky, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
2018 Here and Now, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Light, Paper, Process, curated by Artsource consulting, Mills Building, San Francisco, CA
Photo ‘18, Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, UT
LIGHT + METAL; UNIQUE PHOTOGRAPHS AND OBJECTS, photo-eye Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Connect & Collect, San Jose ICA, San Jose, CA
Bay Area Currents, Photo Alliance Annual Juried Exhibition, Smith Anderson North, San Anselmo, CA
Wonder Ball Gala Auction, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
SF Camerawork 2018 Benefit Auction, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA
Art | Kala 2018, Kala Art Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2017 20 Year Anniversary Exhibition, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Wild, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
Circus, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA
Summer Permanent Collection, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Night Watch, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Ketchum, ID
TO SEE THE MOON FALL FROM THE SKY, curated by Mark Joshua Epstein & Will Hutnick, Spring/Break Art Show, New York, NY
2016 Selections from Dolby Chadwick Gallery, Shasta College Art Gallery, Redding, CA
Art Kala 2016, Kala Art Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2015 Lightning Strikes, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Illuminate, juried by Elizabeth Avedon, Center For Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
Femme Papel, Rayko Photo Center, San Francisco, CA
Night Begins the Day, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
2014 Select Cuts and Alterations, Foley Gallery, New York, NY
Project 3, Collaborative exhibition with Abe McNally, c2c Project Space, San Francisco, CA
Not of this World, curated by Renny Pritikin, ProArts Gallery, Oakland, CA
2013 From Polaroids to Photograms, Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, UT
2012 The Art of Photography, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA
2012 Annual Juried Exhibition, 3rd place, Camera Club of New York, New York, NY
Residency Projects, Kala Gallery, Berkeley, CA
Chain Reaction, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
2011 Black and White, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Altered Realities, Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, UT
2010 Night/Light, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Art of Play, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 Next New : Green, ICA San Jose, San Jose, CA
2008 Introductions 2008, RootDivision, San Francisco, CA
Eighteen Months, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2007 It’s a Small World, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
2005 MFA Fellowship Exhibition, Headlands Center for the Arts Project Space, Sausalito, CA
Truth and Lies, Mission 17, San Francisco, CA
Mayhem, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004 MFA Exhibition, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Epic, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Residencies and Fellowships
2025 Verdancy Project, Ponder Residency, Troutdale, OR (upcoming)
2024 AW Artist Residency, Puerto Vallarta, MX
2023 Penland Winter Residency and Fellowship, Penland, NC
2021 Kala Art Institute Artist in Residence, Berkeley, CA
2018 Jentel Artist in Residence, Jentel Foundation, Banner, WY
2014 Rayko Photo Center Artist in Residence, San Francisco, CA
2011 Kala Art Institute Fellowship, Berkeley, CA
2007 MacDowell Colony Fellowship, Peterborough, NH
2004 Headlands Center for the Arts MFA Fellowship Award, Sausalito, CA
Teaching Experience and Community Engagement
2024 Solar Photograms with SolarFast and Cyanotype, Radius Art Studio, Portland, OR
2015- present Program Developer for City College of San Francisco, City Extension, San Francisco, CA
2009-present Instructor, City College of San Francisco, City Extension, San Francisco, CA Workshops including: Solar Photograms with SolarFast and Cyanotype, Photogram Techniques in the Darkroom, Basic Black and White Darkroom and Resin Pouring.
2014-2015 Teaching and Exhibition commission through ProArts Gallery Oakland, CA
2010-2011 Teaching artist for the Young Artist Studio Program, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Public Art
2022 Google Artist in Residence Commission for Bay View Suites, Mountain View, CA
PDX Red Wall, Portland OR
2020 Public Art Commission for Hesperian Blvd Corridor Improvement Project, Alameda County Arts Commission, San
Lorenzo, CA (completed in 2023)
2018 Public art commission for Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA
2015 Public art commission for SFO Terminal 3, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA
Public Artist Registries
2022 Alameda County Arts Commission’s Artist Registry, Oakland, CA
2019 2019/2020 Prequalified Artist Pool, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA
2017 2017/2018 Prequalified Artist Pool, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA
Alameda County Arts Commission’s Artist Registry, Oakland, CA
2016 Finalist for Downtown Berkeley BART Station large scale public art installation.
2016-2019 Art in Public Places Roster, Oregon Arts Commission, Salem, OR
2013 Prequalified Artist Pool, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA
Awards and Nominations
2022 Hopper Prize Finalist
2018 Critical Mass Finalist, Top 50, Photolucia
All About Photo Magazine #1, Light, Merit Award, San Francisco, CA
2017 SECA Nomination, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
2012 SECA Nomination, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Artist Lectures and Presentations
2021 Vanessa Marsh: A Virtual Artist Lecture, Archer Gallery and Clark Art Talks, Clark College, Portland, OR
2020 Light and Shadow: Lumen Printing Techniques with Vanessa Marsh, Society for Photographic Education, North East Chapter
Conference.
Vanessa Marsh: Process and Influences, Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, CA
2019 Visiting Artist Guest Lecturer and Visiting Artist , Sacramento State University, Sacramento, CA
2017 Artist Talk for Night Watch, Sun Valley Arts Center, Ketchum, ID
Visiting Artist Guest Lecturer and Visiting Artist , Sacramento State University, Sacramento, CA
2015 Culture Bites; Night Beings the Day, Bloomberg Media, San Francisco, CA
Photo I, Mills College, Oakland, CA
Sustained Looking, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
Guest Juror Lecture, Modesto Junior College, Modesto, CA
2014 Creative Non-Fiction Photo Seminar, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
2013 Photo I, Mills College, Oakland, CA
Photo II, Mills College, Oakland, CA
2012 Artist Lecture Series, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA
Panel Discussion for Dreams of the Darkest Night, Nelson Gallery, UC Davis, Davis, CA
2011 Fellowship Lecture, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
Select Collections
San Jose Museum of Art
Stanford Hospital Foundation
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
Fort Wayne Museum of Art
Fidelity Investments
Ellie May
San Francisco Arts Commission for permanent installation at San Francisco International Airport
San Francisco General Hospital Foundation