Morgan Leavitt was born and raised in an artistic household in the near North suburbs of Chicago. Very early in her childhood, she would spend hours observing her father paint in a make-shift studio in the basement, and imitate him using a small paint set of her own. From her mother, she developed a fondness for performance and theatrical expression. Supposedly, Morgan began drawing detailed self portraits at the age of 5, complete with wild costumes and animal sidekicks. In addition, she picked up the violin at the age of 7, and continued to play for ten years. Visual art, drama, and music became highly influential passions as she developed into adulthood.

A brief hiatus from the arts led her down a scientific path to southern California, where she discovered a great appreciation for environments other than her native Midwestern plains. However, she also realized an even greater appreciation and need for her unused artistic talents, and returned to Chicago to pursue a BFA in Theatre Studies from DePaul University, with an emphasis on directing and design, and a minor in studio art. Morgan expanded her artistic training with organizations such as Piven Theatre Workshop and Lillstreet Art Center, has taught art and drama to foster youth, and worked on theatrical productions with several local theatre companies, incorporating her directing and design skills. Visual images have always been a mainstay in her creative expression, and she is continuously looking for ways to incorporate her varied experiences in theatre and music into her paintings.

Morgan still resides in Chicago, where she has trained in oil painting, and life drawing, and recently began exploring alternative painting surfaces and the possibilities of charcoal as a painting medium. Her work, in both oil and charcoal, have been exhibited in galleries throughout Chicago, including The Galaxie, 33 Collective, FLATfile, ARC Gallery and High Risk. A small collection of her charcoal works were recently shown at Wandering Gypsy Soul Gallery in Portland, Oregon, and a  larger collection of her mixed media on wood pieces will be shown at DeGrazia's Gallery in the Sun in Tucson, Arizona in February of 2009. When not exhibiting, she works on commissioned portraits. Several of her paintings and portraits can also be found in private collections throughout the U.S.


For more information, please contact Morgan at Seaborn79@aol.com.