High School Art teacher Mark Maresca showcases his oil painting titled Enchanted as one of 35 artists featured in the ONCE UPON A TIME Art Show in the Susan Rogers-Arreger Gallery at The ARTS at Marks Garage in Honolulu from February 2-23.
"This painting is inspired by my lifelong fascination with magical realms, adventure, and the sublime," said Mr. Maresca.
Mr. Maresca has been the studio art teacher at Assets since 2015.
"Students choose their medium, and I help them develop their skills and knowledge," he shared.
Mr. Maresca has shaped the lives of hundreds of students in his art classes. Many have pursued a Bachelor of Fine Arts or Associate of Arts or joined the online art market. "I support student agency," he said. "Their capacity to pursue their goals proactively, purposefully, and effectively."
Classes he has taught include Art Explorations, Drawing, Painting, Ceramics, Digital Art, Sculpture, and Mixed Media.
Before joining Assets School, he also was an art instructor at the Academy of the Pacific from 2001 to 2013.
Mr. Maresca's oil painting, "Back to the Future," was chosen as part of the Hawaii State Art Museum's 50th Anniversary Exhibition: Hawai'i Change & Continuity in 2015, coordinated by the Hawaii State Foundation of Culture and the Arts.
Mr. Maresca displayed his art in other venues, including the Honolulu Museum of Art, where he worked as a drawing and painting instructor. While he was an Orvis Artist in Residence at The Contemporary Museum Spalding House in 2012, his art students collaborated in his work called "Garden of Reflection." He earned the Acquisition Award from the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts in 2003 and 2005. His painting titled "Lush Landscape," bought by the state in 2005, was displayed in one of the rooms in the State Capitol. He was given the Newcomer Award in 2004 by the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce. His work was showcased at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center in 2015 during the Schaefer Portrait Challenge.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Painting from Gonzaga University and his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Hawaii Manoa.