Melanie Vote holds a BFA from Iowa State University and an MFA in painting from the New York Academy of Art. Having grown up on a functional farm before living and working in NYC for over 25 years, her practice straddles these two worlds. Her work investigates the complexities of the human-land relationship, the cyclical nature of life, and the impossibility of permanence.

Vote was a recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (2007) and was awarded residencies, including the Vermont Studio Center (2002), Jentel, WY (2009), AHAD, Abu Dhabi, UAE (2013), the Grand Canyon (2016), the Weir Farm, CT (2022), and Cill Rialaig, Ireland (2023).

Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Exhibitions include work at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (2003) and The Hangaram Art Museum (Seoul, South Korea) (2016). Solo exhibitions include, DFN Gallery, NY (2008), Hionas Gallery, NY (2011, 2016), Galleria Farina, Miami (2017), and Equity Gallery, NY (2020, 2025). Vote presented work in a two-person show curated by Liz Garvey of Garvey|Simon Gallery at DFN Projects in October 2023, followed by her solo exhibition, Consulting with the Light Eaters, at Equity Gallery in May 2025. Her work was also included in the group drawing exhibition, “We Were Never Here,” at Kaliner Gallery in August 2025.