Mia Melanie Saar ^{Emerging artist}

Artist's country of origin: Estonia

Mia Melanie Saar (born in 2000) started her journey as an artist in 2018 when she discovered canvas and colors as a means of expressing her emotions. A year later, she entered the Pallas University of Applied Sciences, which she graduated from in the summer of 2023. Mia made the most of her time and opportunities at Pallas, participating in exchange semesters through the Erasmus program at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts in 2020 and at the University of Porto in 2022. After university, she plans to pursue an international internship with Maija Alholm in Nice, France, to further enhance her skills. During her four years at university, Mia participated in numerous group exhibitions and auctions. Notable events include the Young Art Auctions (in 2021, 2022, and 2023) in Tallinn’s Telliskivi Creative City Green Hall, the Tartu Art Auction at the Tartu Art House in 2021, a collaborative project of paintings for the Tartu University Hospital in 2021, and the group exhibition “Ioiô” at Galeria Dinamo in Porto in 2022. Mia Melanie has also had three solo exhibitions, the most recent being in 2022 at the Design and Architecture Gallery in Tallinn titled “Public intimacy and the other tales” In 2021, Mia received the Hotel Pallas scholarship and held an exhibition called “Wonder and Pain” at the Tartu Art House. In 2019 Mia Melanie Saar participated in the Aparaaditehas Open Platform competition and won the opportunity to hold her first solo exhibition. Her exhibition titled “The Many Faces of MIA” took place in 2020 at Aparaaditehas, Tartu. The young artist has also tried her hand at curating. In September 2022, she curated Jürgen Vainola’s solo exhibition “Lost Witnesses” at the Jakobi Gallery, and in 2023, she curated Pallas painting department exhibition “Dedication” at the Betti Alver Museum in Jõgeva. In 2021, Mia Melanie Saar’s artwork “Clearcutting Bubble” was selected for the street art festival “Ma ei saa aru”. Currently, her largest piece, “Clearcutting Bubble,” (“Lageraiemull”) is located near Lamuu Café, across from Fotografiska, in the Telliskivi Creative City in Tallinn. In January 2022, Mia, along with her father Erki Saar, opened their gallery near Otepää called Lauda Gallery. The gallery features Mia’s own works as well as Estonian art from Erki Saar’s art collection.