ARTIST PROFILE Steve Messenger
A native of Maryland, Steve Messenger
grew up drawing and working horse
jobs such as hot walking at Pimlico
Race Course. He attended the
Maryland Institute College of Art in
Baltimore before leaving to groom
for New Hope Farm and the Korean
Olympic show jumping team where
he cared for top grand prix horses
trained by John Madden.
He spent ten years working on the
A level horse show circuit including
Red Rose Farm in Wellinton, Florida
and Gates Head Farm in New Hope,
Pennsylvania before leaving to finish
his BFA degree at the University of
the Arts in Philadelphia.
“In my current work I want to
convey a sense of lightness and
movement” said Messenger now
based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
and Collingswood, New Jersey. “This
is a departure from the layered oils
I started doing when I first began to
establish myself in the equine genre.
I look at contemporary figure painting
for direction in this lighter, brighter
treatment on paper.
“Braid” 24 x 19 inch acrylic on paper
Rodeo LIFE 154