Michelle Palatnik is a New York-based painter and educator working from her studio in DUMBO, Brooklyn. She holds an MFA from the New York Academy of Art and a BFA from New York University, where she received a full four-year scholarship awarded by Elizabeth Murray and first place in painting from the Martin Wong Foundation.

Her education spans contemporary and classical approaches to painting. At NYU, she studied with Ross Bleckner and Maureen Gallace. She continued her training with Sharon Sprung at the Art Students League and spent three years at the Grand Central Atelier studying traditional methods of drawing and painting.

Michelle has taught drawing, painting, portfolio development, and art history in museums, schools, colleges, and independent studio settings. She served as a Portfolio Specialist at the Art League of Long Island and taught at the Nassau County Museum of Art, Concordia College, and Ramaz Upper School. Since 2020, she has directed Michelle Judith Art, an independent teaching practice centered on individualized instruction.

Her teaching combines close observation, technical discipline, art-historical understanding, and conceptual inquiry. Rather than imposing a single method or style, she helps students identify the particular formal and intellectual problems within their work, strengthen their judgment, and become increasingly independent.