The career she has today was built one exhibition, one opportunity, and one yes at a time

My first art show was in a coffee shop that I worked in when I was a college student, or maybe just shortly after finishing undergrad in Ames, Iowa.

And I really did not expect to sell the work, and I had low expectations of that because also at Iowa State and many undergrad programs, there's not a professional practice component to that.

It was still the '90s and this ivory tower of, "No, we don't talk about that stuff." And in fact, I had professors tell me not to put your artwork on the line, to not compromise what you want to make and think about your audience.

But exhibitions and galleries were something that were there, and it wasn't against the rules to think about that, but there was no kind of bridge to think about how to sell your work.

But since I was working in a coffee shop and they did show artwork in there, I was invited to have an exhibition in the coffee shop.

And the work was very, in my opinion, looking back at it, strange and disturbing.

A residency taught Melanie something almost no one talks about: it often takes a decade