Michelle Van Parys received her B.F.A. degree from the Corcoran School of Art in Washington D.C. in 1982; and her M.F.A. degree in Photography  from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1986. Her photographs have been exhibited internationally.  Recent exhibitions include: The South Carolina Triennial at the State Museum in Columbia, South Carolina; the Arts Center in St. Petersburg, Florida;  Solomon Projects in Atlanta, Georgia; and Steinbaum Krauss Gallery in New York City; and The Felt Moment at the Columbia Museum of Art in South Carolina.  Her work is included in an international traveling exhibition and book entitled The Altered Landscape.  Most recently this exhibition traveled to Presentation House in Vancouver, British Columbia and the Norsk Museum for Fotografi, in Norway.  Michelle Van Parys has been the recipient of the Virginia Museum Fellowship and the South Carolina Arts Commission Fellowship.  Her work is included in several museum collections such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The High Museum, and The Virginia Museum of Fine Art. Michelle Van Parys is an Associate Professor at the College of Charleston in the Studio Art Department.