Robert Maniscalco

Robert Maniscalco is a highly sought after commission portrait artist. His exquisite oil-on-canvas portraits and fine art can be found in over one thousand prominent, private and public collections throughout North America. Robert also explored the creative process as host of ART BEAT, produced by Detroit Public Television – PBS, WTVS-Channel 56; he also has written a book about painting and creativity, called “Point of Art,” along with a how-to-paint book, called The Power of Positive Painting. Robert received a bachelor of Music from Wayne State University in 1983. Former member of the WSU Board of Visitors and past President of the Wayne County Council for Arts, History and Humanities. He lived eight years in New York City where he completed an intensive professional acting training program at the Circle in the Square Theater and worked professionally in numerous film, television and stage productions.

In 1993 he made his Carnegie Hall debut with the New Renaissance Chamber Artists, an experimental ensemble of instrumentalists and actors. In 1995 he took up residency in New Orleans, returning home to Detroit in 1997, where he founded the Maniscalco Gallery. In 2005 he moved to the Charleston area where he is raising his two fantastic children. He married Cate Andersen in 2012. He continues to be active in theater and has developed an instructional painting video and presents live painting performances, entitled, “The Power of Positive Painting.”

He has written five books. The Fishfly is a semi-autobiographical novel which deals very personally with the issue of abuse and offers a point of view that is rarely expressed in our victim-obsessed society. The Fishfly is a heavily fictionalized “what if” around the author’s own story of abuse, presenting an alternative ending to the tragic scenario, which continues to be repeated with young people everywhere.

Point of Art, his non-fiction, is the journey of an artist. It is a collection of ideas and meditations, intended to provide access to the creative process. Robert presents insights ranging from his practical system on drawing and painting to making it as a professional artist. He explores the relevance of self-expression in our daily lives as well as strategies for bringing arts and culture into our communities. With the 2013 release of the Second Edition, Robert has added to this generous resource, filling it with valuable information for any artist or art lover.

Quench documents his vision quest to Haiti in 2014 and features over twenty works of art that come out of "The Quench Project," an ongoing project about water insecurity and wealth inequality.

He is also a playwright. His latest, Vincent John Doe, asks the question, what would happen to Van Gogh if he suddenly materialized in present day New York City.