Personal Biography

A Gift in Courage, Heart, Happiness, and Redefining the Impossible

Allison Massari ignites rebirth, vitality and renewal through her unified work as an inspirational speaker and artist.

 

The award-winning museum artist found peace, purpose, and happiness after overcoming two extraordinary personal tragedies. In 1998, she survived a near fatal 60 mph car crash where she was trapped and burned severely. Just three years later she was hit again at 60 mph and sustained a brain injury. The level of betrayal she felt from life seemed insurmountable. Then Massari became determined to create an amazing life.

 

Taking a long, steep climb from ashes into recovery, she learned very clearly how to navigate her way to true healing and to a life beyond anything she could have dreamed possible. Her rededicated mission is to share her story of transformation and revitalization to motivate change in people and the organizations that nurture and inspire them. 

 

Allison Massari shares how to transform any challenge into an opportunity.

 

In summer of 2010, Massari will be featured in the international documentary film ReSolve teaching solutions for those coming through challenge and post-traumatic stress. Massari was nominated for the 2010 Presidential Citizens Award for her work helping children with burn injuries; her revolutionary programs with these teens were founded in 1998, and they continue to transform young people's lives at the Adaptive Sports Center in Crested Butte, Colorado.

 

Massari’s work stems from a desire to give back, and to be involved in the medical community that nurtured her as a child and gave her a second chance at life. Her story and extensive time in recovery has given her compelling material to enlighten health care workers with a deeper awareness in patient-centered care.

 

Allison Massari’s professional career is rich with diverse achievements. For over 15 years she has been creating, selling and placing fine art with international collectors and Fortune 500 clients such as General Mills, US Airways, and Lockheed Martin. She holds a Masters of Arts degree from School of Visual Arts in New York City and a Bachelor of Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design, as well as being the recipient of an adventurous award to study in Brugge, Belgium and La NaPoule, France. The Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida displays her collage work in its permanent collection.

 

“I’ve come to a place where my heart pounds with excitement instead of fear. I learned how to transform my pain and how to take control of my life. If I could do this with my own life and under such extreme circumstances...imagine what you can do with yours.”  Allison Massari 

 

 

Artist Biography

Allison Massari’s powerful, intimate, and boldly imagined artwork beckons the viewer - sometimes playfully, sometimes intensely- always with a poignancy that deeply touches the heart. The vulnerability and honesty expressed in her self portraits, the energy and life that flow through her collages, and the unflinching strength and intelligence that can be found in all of her work, show Massari’s commitment to exposing herself in order to find the common thread that connects us as humans.

Primarily a painter, Massari uses “whatever is necessary” to bring her work to life - an interdisciplinary mixture of painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography and collage. Largely known for her self-portraits and her portrayal of the female figure, Massari offers, “I’ve always been deeply interested in understanding people - and I’m fascinated with the human experience. The self-portrait is the most expeditious pathway for me to reach a vulnerability and an honesty to express myself spiritually, and to connect to universal emotions of the human condition.”

After receiving her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design, Massari went on to receive an integrated masters degree by combining MFA programs from Parsons School of Design in painting, and the School of Visual Arts in illustration in New York City. Throughout the country, museum exhibitions and private art collectors have embraced Massari’s work. Her collage work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, FL. Her art has earned prestigious honors including awards and exhibits in the Tampa Museum of Art, St. Petersburg’s Museum of Fine Arts, and the National Arts Club Gallery of New York City. She has received two Artist-in-Residence Awards from Anderson Ranch Art Center, and was also named Helena Rubenstein Scholar. Commissioned paintings from numerous corporations include Lockheed Martin, US Airways, AAA Motor Club & General Mills.

In 1998, Massari nearly lost her life in a fiery car accident, which has greatly influenced her life and her work. She views the accident as a tremendous gift, allowing her to find her strength, take charge of her beliefs, and live life by her own rules. She arose from the experience - literally a phoenix from the flames.  

The same year of her accident, Massari founded an art camp for young teen burn survivors, "The Roger Pepper Adventure Camps" in Crested Butte, CO. Roger Pepper was the brave man who pulled Massari from her car, saving her life and risking his own.

Currently, Massari lives in Tiburon CA, where she is consistently creating artwork and living life with excitement, ferocity, and vigor. Her artwork and her life are a testimony to the opportunities that life gives us, if we are open to receive its gifts.