Michael Kessler was born in 1954 in Hanover, Pennsylvania. He received a B.F.A. degree from Kutztown University. He currently lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

AWARDS / FELLOWSHIPS Rome Prize, Painting, American Academy in Rome , 1990

Pollock/Krasner Award, Painting, New York, New York , 1992

Whitney Independent Study Program, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York , 1977

Awards in the Visual Arts-Five, Grant in Painting,  South Eastern Center for Contemporary Art, 1985

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Grant in Painting , 1983