Lives and works in Los Angeles, California
Contact: studio@margaretoakley.com Instagram: @margaretoakleyhere
Education
2022 , University of California, Irvine - MFA in Visual Art
2009-2018, Santa Monica College Art Department
2006, University of California, Los Angeles - BA in English Literature, Creative Writing (Poetry)
Solo Exhibitions
May 2022, Dolphins Swimming in the Cracks of Sidewalks, Contemporary Arts Gallery, UC Irvine
December 2018, Coyote Winter, Rio de Los Angeles State Park
Group Exhibitions
January 2026, Under One Roof, Curated by Peter Frank, Airport Arts Center, Santa Monica, California
December 2025, Materials and Processes for An Expanding World, Curated by Soft Systems, Plot Los Angeles
October 2024, WHIPLASH, Airport Arts Center, Santa Monica, California
January 2022, GLAMFA, California State University Long Beach SOA Art Galleries
July 2021, ULTRA!, Torrance Art Museum
May 2021, Please Wait Here, UC Irvine Contemporary Arts Center Gallery
June 2018, Popularity and Realism, Curated by Meg Cranston, Santa Monica College Pete and Susan Barrett Art Gallery
Residencies
2024-Present, 18th Street Art Center, Santa Monica, California
Public Projects & Community Collaborations
June 2026, Santa Monica Mountains Fund Climate Action Corps Fellows Microforest Print Collaboration: created and donated a limited edition of botanical pressed flora and watercolor prints, with plants from the Santa Monica Microforest, with proceeds supporting environmental programming.
Press & Interviews
Meet Margaret Oakley, Bold Journey (2026) '
Lectures, Artist Talks & Conference Presentations
June 2021, International Research Collective Time of Monsters. Presentation of my ongoing thesis research and the development of Dolphins Swimming in the Cracks of Sidewalks
May 2021, The Sea: Mobility, Ingenuity, and Ecology in the Early Modern World, UCI/UCLA graduate student conference. Presentation of Paper: Expanded Perceptions: Water Through the Microscope and Alternative Notions of Subjecthood
March 2020, Getty Research Institute Graduate Scholars Program, Art & Ecology, Seminar led by James Nisbet, University of California Irvine
Awards and Fellowships
2026, City of Santa Monica Individual Artist Grant
2021, Medici Scholarship, Claire Trevor School of the Arts, University of California, Irvine