About
Nicholas Rispoli is a multidisciplinary artist, one-time novelist, wannabe vocalist and arts educator. He holds an MFA in figurative sculpture, and his practice spans drawing, collage, writing, and ceramics.
While living in New York City, Nicholas partnered with nonprofits to organize exhibition fundraisers, launched community arts initiatives, and developed arts education programs. He served as Assistant Artistic Director of the New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA), and later as Artistic Director, for this statewide intensive program for high school artists.
His collaborative projects have been supported by the Brooklyn Arts Council, and he has been invited to international residencies at HANGAR – Center of Artistic Research in Lisbon, Portugal, and La Escuela de Diseño de Altos de Chavón in the Dominican Republic. In 2021, he deepened an ongoing collaboration with writer and performer Mariam Bazeed through the Visual Muze Residency, supported by the West Harlem Art Fund, developing a project titled post-mortem family vacation.
Nicholas has served on the fine art faculty at Pace University, Marymount Manhattan College’s Bedford Hills College Program, the New York Academy of Art, and for New York State programs. He has also led sculpture workshops for the Museum of Arts and Design in New York and at Manhattanville University.
Alongside his studio practice, Nicholas was part of the original team that launched Netflix Jr. Magazine, which evolved into Netflix Family Magazine — a kids art/activity publication he now leads. His drawings have often been described as “idiosyncratic,” a word he’s chosen not to unpack. He continues to make them anyhow.