Matty Palamara is a fine artist working across photographic practices, drawing, painting, and poetics to reconcile with coming-of-age and how one does so as a chronically online queer person.
Matty Palamara
b.1997, Houston, Texas, Based in Ames, Iowa.
Education
2025 MFA Integrated Visual Arts, Iowa State University
2020 BS Studio Art, Minor in Biology, Radford University
2018 Semester Abroad, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Teaching Experience
2024-2025 Graduate Teaching Assistant for Assistant Professor Evan Hume, Photo 2100, Iowa State University
2023-2025 Graduate Teaching Assistant for Lecturer Silas Pippitt, Marketing 3630, Iowa State University
2023-2024 Instructor of Record, Design 1830, Iowa State University
2022-2023 Graduate Teaching Assistant for Assistant Teaching Professor Wendy Parker, Iowa State University
Solo & Two Person Exhibitions
2026 I’ll Find You, Two-Person Exhibition with Nicole Soriano, Mainframe Studios, Des Moines, IA
2025 Be Good Or Be Good At It, Reliable Street Gallery, Ames, IA
Select Group Exhibitions
2026 Body, Curated By Kelly Devitt, Polk Heritage Gallery, Des Moines, IA
2024-2025 Queering of American Apparel, The Clothing Museum at Iowa State University, Ames, IA
2024 Rally’s Point Summer Art Show, CASA, Ames, IA.
2024 IVA MFA Show, Octagon Center for the Arts, Ames, IA
2023 IVA MFA Show, Gallery 181, Ames, IA
2023 IVA MFA Show, Gallery 181, Ames, IA
2022 IVA MFA Show, Gallery 181, Ames, IA
Juried Group Exhibitions
2026 Community, Mainframe Studios, Des Moines, IA
2025 Alternatives: Image as Record, Ohio University, Athens, OH
2025 Studies in Creativity, Memorial Union Gallery, Ames, IA (Both Visual and Written work)
2025 The Bureau of Queer Art: FOTOgrafia), The Open Door Gallery, San Diego, CA
2024 Contemporary Lens, Mainframe Studios, Des Moines, IA
2024 Effervescence, Mainframe Studios, Des Moines, IA
2024 Focus Grant Show, Memorial Union Gallery, Ames, IA
2023 Greater Des Moines Exhibited, Polk Heritage Gallery, Des Moines, IA
2023 Studies in Creativity, Memorial Union Gallery, Ames, IA
2023 Nesting, Midwest Center for Photography, Wichita, KS
2023 Home, Memorial Union Gallery, Ames, IA
2022 Studies in Creativity, Memorial Union Gallery, Ames, IA
2022 Captured Through A Lens, San Fernando Valley Arts and Cultural Center, San Fernando, CA
2021 Floyd Center for the Arts 2021 Juried Exhibition, Floyd Center for the Arts, Floyd, VA
2021 Taking Pictures: 2021, Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR
2021 Photography: Your Vision, D’art Gallery, Denver, CO
2020 More Leaves of a Tree, Tyler Museum, Radford, VA
2020 Photography Now, Black Box Gallery, Portland, OR
2020 Student Watercolor Show, Porterfield Gallery, Radford, VA
2020 Super Duper Student Show, Tyler Museum, Radford, VA
Residency/ Grant Opportunities
2025-2026 Iowa State University Alumni in Residence, Mainframe Studios, Des Moines, Iowa
2024 Focus Grant, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Speaking
2026 Artist Talk as part of Alumni in Residence for Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
2024 Accepted panel member for SECAC: Talk: Queers on the Internet and the Bedroom Culture of the 2010s, Atlanta, Georgia.
Publications
2025 Bareback.com, March Release Contributing Poet.
2025 Bareback.com, February Release Contributing Poet.
2025 The Bureau of Queer Art: FOTO(grafia), Contributing Visual Artist.
2024 The Hand Issue 44, Contributing Visual Artist.
2024 Mistake House Literary Magazine, Contributing Visual Artist.
Awards
2025 Graduate Excellence in Research Award, Iowa State University, Ames, IA
2023 Best in Show Home, Memorial Union Gallery, Ames, IA
2020 Merit Award Super Duper Student Show, Tyler Museum, Radford, VA
Press
2026 Body, Curated By Kelly Devitt, Polk Heritage Gallery, Des Moines, IA
Accompanying write-up on the show: https://www.polkcountyheritagegallery.org/now-showing#body2026
