Michael Cadieux was born and raised in the Northern Rocky Mountains of Montana. Until the 1940s, the land was a benign paradise that was home to a diverse range of plants and animals, including man. By the end of WWII, mining and timber interests, with the blessing of federal and state lawmakers, began systematic cutting and digging. Roads, strip mines, and stripped mountainsides replaced the formerly pristine wilderness. The dramatic and catastrophic change in the landscape greatly affected the young Cadieux, instilling in him a passionate love for environmental conservation. Today, the majority of Cadieuxโs paintings express his anger and heartbreak at the senseless despoliation of the land. Cadieux eventually became a professor of art, teaching art history and painting at such places as the University of Montana, the University of Arizona, the Arizona Western College, the Kansas City Art Institute, and the Douglas campus of Cochise College. Throughout his career, Cadieux has had more than 75 one-person, solo, competitive, and invitational shows across the country. His work has received numerous awards and grants, including two Andrew Mellon Faculty enrichment grants, two Outstanding Educator of America awards, and a U.S. Office of Education grant to lecture, study, and tour India. Cadieuxโs written articles and reviews have appeared in a variety of publications, including Ceramics Monthly, Artspace (Los Angeles), New Art Examiner (Chicago), and Southeast Asia in Review. Michael Cadieux currently lives and works in Bisbee, Arizona, where he continues to create art every day.
Cadieux is the artist and author of The Color of Being Born: Art+Writing.
From the artist
โI was born and raised in the Northern Rocky Mountains of Montana. This land until the 1940s was a benign paradise providing a diverse range of plants and animals, including man. By the end of WWII, mining and timber interests, with the blessing of federal and state lawmakers, began systematic cutting and digging. Whole watersheds were divided and framed in checkerboard square sections. The majority of my paintings express my anger and heartbreak at the despoilation of the land.โ