Who is Carlisha Shanae? 

Carlisha Shanae is an internationally recognized and published visual artist hailing from Cocoa Beach, FL. Her life has revolved around the arts and music and in 2010, she was accepted into the Visual Arts Program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). There, she studied visual arts and her concentration was photography. She participated in five student exhibitions held by UMBC’s Visual Arts Department: Vogue, Digital Manipulation, Nudes, Miniature World, and The Senior Exit Exhibition. Her work was also selected to be part of UMBC’s Art Week, which celebrated the works of UMBC students across campus. In her last semester at UMBC, the Visual Arts Department awarded Carlisha with an Outstanding Artwork in Photography Award for her photo series The House of Roots. This series consisted of portraits of African American women embracing their natural hair (afros) and culture by utilizing Afrocentric styles. Thus, ultimately refraining the utilization of Western culture (straightened hair and European fashions).

 Post graduation, Carlisha became the owner and sole proprietor of Carlisha Shanae Photography and had her work was published in Prince George’s Suite Magazine for Harold T. Fisher’s stage play, Two Weeks Until the Rest of My Life. Carlisha was also selected as an exhibiting artist for the Starry Night Artist Exposure Program for Art Basel Miami through 2013 and 2014 at the Select Fair. As an exposure artist, she showcased, The House of Roots and Black Beauty: Unbleached at the Select Fair. In 2014, Carlisha exhibited her artwork at the Cox Art Center for Calvert’s Best Photography Show and was a semi-finalist at the Bombay Sapphire's Artisan Series sponsored by Russell Simmons' RUSH Arts Gallery. In December of 2015, Carlisha exhibited her artwork at Art Basel Miami 2015 with See.Me's Final See.Me Exhibition for SCOPE Art Miami. In 2016, See.Me published an exhibition catalogue, The Beauty of Humanity Series, which featured her work from Art Basel Miami 2015.

In January 2017, Carlisha exhibited artwork and held workshops at the Smithsonian affiliate, Annmarie Sculpture Garden, as part of an art residency in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Currently, she continues to create works of art that reflect her culture and roots by utilizing photography as a medium, fashion to shape/form imagery, and color to construct emotional responses from viewers.