Footbridge at Cabanga

Michela Mansuino, an American citizen, was born of Italian parents in 1961 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her mother, was a concert pianist at the time, and her father was a conductor, concert master and first chair violinist, greatly influenced her life in the arts. Her father, Mr. Guido Mansuino, after 30 years with the National Symphony Orchestra, has recently retired. Her mother, Mrs. Sylvia McPherson, is well known for her musical accomplishments and is also renowned as a teacher of pianists in the Northern Virginia area. Michela moved with her family to the Washington, DC area when she was four months of age. Here, she received her elementary education, and in 1983 graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia. She understudied, in particular, with Roger Anliker, and Charles Schmidt. During her studies, she participated in many shows and won many prizes. In 1984 she traveled to Europe to study the art museums in England, Spain and France where she painted and drew from original works. She then continued her studies in Florence, Italy, where she dedicated herself to figurative and naturalistic work, but specifically to painting the landscapes. In 1988, she returned to Brazil to explore the possibilities if tropical landscape painting. Although she dedicated considerable time painting the urban scapes of São Paulo, it is the tropical landscape that lures her on.