Born in Orbost, Victoria, Michelle ZuccoIo relocated to Melbourne as a teenager to further her education.

In 1980 she undertook a Fine Arts degree at the Victorian College of Art and Design, majoring in the discipline of drawing. Her success as an artist began early with some of these drawings being selected to exhibit in national art awards.

On completing her Degree in Fine Art, Michelle travelled to Europe, UK and America for twelve months exploring art museums. During this period she worked as an art tutor with Camp America in Copake, upstate New York.  Returning to Australia, Michelle continued her studies, completing a Diploma of Education at Melbourne State College. Since then, she has maintained a steady career sharing her passion for, and educating others about art whilst continuing her own studio practice and exhibiting on a national level.

In 2008, her drawings were selected for the prestigious Seventh Drawing Biennial, Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, Canberra. Michelle has also had paintings selected for national prizes such as the Portia Geach Memorial Art Award 2011 and 2013, Sydney. This is Australia’s most prestigious Portraiture prize for women.

Michelle has now been drawing and painting for over three decades. Her wide variety of work frequently reflects her interest in nature, including landscapes, animals and human forms. Her artworks are often influenced by her childhood memories and experiences from rural Victoria and her Italian heritage.

One of Michelle’s most recent accomplishments was to be awarded the 2013 Italian Services Institute International Fellowship by the International Specialised Skills Institute.

The International Specialised Skills Institute is an independent national organisation that works with Australian governments, industry and education institutions to enable individuals to gain enhanced skills and experience within their industry. As part of the Overseas Applied Research Fellowship Program the Fellows travel overseas. For Michelle this meant traveling to Italy to enhance her skills and knowledge in the area of art and design.

Having recently returned from Italy, Michelle has had the opportunity to study art and design in a private arts academy in Florence. She was able to learn new skills from Italian artists, with the intention of transferring this knowledge back into her classroom.

The opportunity has had many professional benefits, it has provided Michelle with an insight into new teaching strategies through observing world class tutors and university lectures in several international schools.

Through her appointments in Melbourne, she now has the opportunity to promote Italian art and culture in her various classrooms. Michelle absorbed new teaching strategies and acquired valuable knowledge from world class educational facilities and art museums, which will enrich her teaching practice and inform her own art work.

An art educator for over twenty five years, Michelle has been employed in secondary schools, tertiary institutes and community art programs and has the capacity to influence a broad range of students from primary age, secondary level and to adult learning groups in the general community.

She is currently the senior Art teacher at Sophia Mundi Steiner School in Abbotsford and teaches International Baccalaureate students from middle years to year 12.

One of the classes she is particularly invested in is clay head studies. Which Michelle finds particularly important as it allows students to work with their hands in a world that is becoming increasingly engaged with computers and technology. The art of producing clay sculptures is something that Michelle was able to work on in Italy and bring back new knowledge and experience in. In the Year 9 Steiner curriculum, students spend over 30 lessons working on this major project. The outcome is a life size terracotta clay head – a self-portrait based on observation.

Michelle has been an art tutor at community art groups including Brighton Art Society, Beaumaris Art Group and Glen Eira Art Group for over thirteen years. Here she enjoys helping community members master different art techniques including capturing the human figure.

She also trains teachers with a national organisation known as the TTA, in this role; she delivers nationally approved art programs to secondary teachers and has been approved as an International Baccalaureate external assessor.

Michelle remains very passionate about the art world – and will continue working as an art educator and making her own art work for many years to come.