Meris Drew

Biography

Meris Drew is a painter and assistant professor of studio arts (painting) in the School of Art. She received an M.F.A. in painting from Indiana University and a B.A. in art and art history from New College of Florida. She works between direct observation and memory, allowing changes in perception, weather and the mind of the paint itself to continually push back against the fixed image.

Drew has had solo exhibitions at Stellarhighway (New York), Bottom Feeder Books (Pittsburgh), and Racecar Factory (Indianapolis) and presented a solo booth with Stellarhighway at New Art Dealers Alliance New York 2025. Recent group exhibitions include those at COMPANION (Indianapolis), My Pet Ram (New York), The Lodge (Los Angeles) and through PLATFORM, where her work has been presented on multiple occasions. Among her recent awards, she has received support from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, was a Dedalus Foundation M.F.A. Fellowship nominee, was featured in New American Paintings No. 172 and participated in an art/science residency at the University of Virginia’s Mountain Lake Biological Station.

Prior to joining Syracuse, she held teaching positions at Indiana University Bloomington and the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Her teaching emphasizes the poetics of close looking, rigorous craftsmanship and the development of a studio practice grounded in both historical awareness and genuine personal inquiry.

Education

• M.F.A., Indiana University Bloomington
• B.A., New College of Florida