Wisconsin-born and based artist Michelle Grabner is known for her broad perspective developed as teacher, writer, and critic over the past 30 years. Her artmaking—which encompasses a variety of mediums including drawing, painting, video and sculpture—is driven by a distinctive value in the productivity of work and takes place outside of dominant systems. Grabner finds a creative center in operating across platforms and towards community. She is currently Professor of Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is also the founder and co-director of two non-profit art spaces in Wisconsin, The Suburban and The Poor Farm, with her husband, artist Brad Killam.

The Poor Farm is a not-for-profit art experiment and residency founded in 2008 at the former Waupaca County Poor Farm (built in 1876) in Little Wolf, Wisconsin. The Poor Farm (EST 2008) and The Suburban (EST 1999), support artists and their ideas.