Nicole Salimbene (b. Trinidad, CO) is a Washington, D.C. based artist working at the intersection of poetics, psychology, environmentalism and contemplative practice.  She was raised in Niagara Falls, NY, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Northern Colorado. She has worked in the social service fields in mental health facilities and as a domestic violence crisis counselor. Before embarking on a full-time art practice, she spent many years as an arts administrator in the performing arts, working with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. In 2007, she began exhibiting her art, with her first group exhibitions taking place in Nogent sur Oise and Montataire, France. She has continued to exhibit her work in various venues, including the New Orleans Photo Alliance, (e) merge Art Fair (D.C.), Arlington Arts Center (VA), New York Affordable Art Market, and New Image Gallery at James Madison University. Her 2016 solo exhibition at Flashpoint Gallery (D.C.) received recognition from The Art Newspaper (London), Washington Post, Al Tashkeel (Dubai), and Sculpture Magazine. In addition, her work has been reproduced for publications and purchased for private collections.  She received Second Place for the 2018 Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards. She has twice been a recipient of an Individual Artists and Scholars Grant from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and was awarded a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in Visual Arts: Sculpture/Installation. In 2012, the Washington Sculptors Group awarded her the Tom Rooney Prize. Along with a studio practice, she has led Opening to Your Creativity: Art as A Contemplative Practice workshops in affiliation with American University, Clark University, Lama Foundation, The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, Wesley Theological Seminary, Ghost Ranch and World Wildlife Fund. 
 

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