@piabakala

Pia Bakala is a Richmond, VA based visual artist. Born in Aurora, Illinois, she received a BFA in Painting and a BA in Art History from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2013 and an MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2024. In July 2023 she became a fellow of the Queer Ecologies Research Collective at Mildred’s Lane Artist Residency.

In 2024, she spent the summer as an artist in residence at the Moosey Artist Residency in Norwich, United Kingdom. Her work has been exhibited in group shows at D.D.D.D. Pictures in NYC, Charlotte St. Foundation in Kansas City, SpringBreak Art Show NYC, and Soloway Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. She was featured in New American Paintings MFA issue 165, and included in a panel discussion at the Institute for Contemporary Art in Richmond, Virginia in 2023. As of July 30, 2025, she is celebrating the opening of her solo exhibition titled Pageant Mom at Main Projects in Richmond, Virginia. She is currently an adjunct professor at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts.