Mary Ellen Salo, award winning artist, has been depicting Cleveland and its metropolitan area

for all of her life. She has done many portraits, including commissions. Other series include

vacation spots she has visited, and figurative work.

In 1984 Mary Ellen achieved a dream. She moved to her first studio away from home, at St. Stephen's

Church. In 1988, she began a series of paintings based on the views from her newer studio located in the

United Office Building, which overlooks the historic West Side Market. The views from her 5th floor

studio have been the source of inspiration for 17 of her finest paintings. In 2007 she came full

circle and moved her studio back to her Wainstead Avenue home.

She grew up as Mary Ellen May in Cleveland's western suburb of Lakewood, living one block from

Lake Erie, another favorite source of artistic inspiration. She lives two blocks from the lake now.

Mary Ellen has taught art throughout her professional life at area schools including

Cuyahoga and Lakeland Community Colleges. She now teaches art for the city of Cleveland's

Recreation Department at Cudell Fine Art, Gunning Park and E.J. Kovacic Recreation Centers.

She is delighted to admit that she has two careers, both of them focused on fun.

She has two degrees from Kent State University, the first, a B.S. in Art Education, earned

on a 4 year, full-tuition Art Scholarship, and the second, an M.F.A. in Painting.