Bio: M. Saffell

M. Saffell Gardner holds BFA and MFA degrees in painting from Wayne State University & currently teaches Black Art history & Computer Graphics at Marygrove College. A master painter and mixed media artist, Mr. Gardner is the recipient of a Regional Artists Project Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and has participated in arts mentoring programs in local public schools. In 2000, Mr. Gardner was selected as the Chivas Regal Artist in Residence at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, during which time he developed a solo art exhibit entitled “Recent Memory”. A commissioned painting “Door of No Return” is in the museum’s permanent collection. Recent commissions include the painting of a trash receptacle for Detroit’s “Pretty City” project as well as major commissions for the City of Detroit and the Detroit Public Schools.

Mr. Gardner’s work is in the permanent collection of Cobo Center in Detroit; Cass, Renaissance and Southeastern High Schools as well as the School for Fine and Performing Arts of Detroit, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Detroit Medical Center. He has exhibited throughout Mid-West, New York, Jamaica, Brazil and parts of Africa.