Nicole Michaud is an artist whose work reflects a deep sensitivity to place, memory, and perception. Born in Manchester, New Hampshire, she has lived across the East Coast, West Coast, and Midwest. This range of experience informs her fluid approach to both medium and subject. Michaud studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where she earned her Certificate of Fine Arts and was awarded the Women’s Board Travel Scholarship. In 2011, she used this award to study abroad in Europe before returning to settle in Philadelphia.

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Working primarily in oil paint and pastel, Michaud explores the relationship between the external landscape and the internal world of memory and emotion. Her practice includes vibrant abstract paintings on canvas, expressive oil pastels on paper, and her most recent oil on mylar landscapes. These atmospheric works draw from lived experience and recollection, resulting in images that feel both personal and familiar. Suggestive rather than descriptive, her compositions encourage reflection and invite viewers to connect with their own sense of place and memory.

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Michaud’s earlier floral and abstract works, defined by bold color and energetic movement, remain an important part of her artistic development. These paintings continue to reflect her distinct visual language and serve as a foundation for her current practice. Her newer mylar works build on this sensibility, introducing a quieter and more introspective tone while maintaining her sensitivity to color, light, and emotion.

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Nicole Michaud has received several honors, including the Maurice Freed Memorial Prize from the Woodmere Art Museum, the Artists’ House Gallery Award, and the Catherine Grant Memorial Prize from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Her work has been exhibited throughout Pennsylvania and New York, as well as internationally in London.