Biography
Mark Bush is a graduate of the Columbus College of Art and Design. He majored in Fine Arts with an emphasis in representational painting and drawing.
Mark has received numerous scholarships and awards from Ohio and across the country. After placing 2nd in a painting contest for the National Society of Arts and Letters, Mark was featured in the Fall 2007 edition of American Artist Watercolor magazine as an emerging artist.
One of Mark’s portraits, "Daniel," was accepted into the National Portrait Gallery’s BP Portrait Award Show in London in 2011. Considered to be the most prestigious international portrait exhibition, it was a major milestone in Mark's career.
In 2014, Mark exhibited his painting "The Poet" in the popular ArtPrize event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Also in 2014, two of his paintings, "A Swan Among Crows" and "The Burden," were chosen for the Contemporary Realism Biennial in Fort Wayne, Indiana. "A Swan Among Crows" was awarded a Juror's Merit Award and was purchased by the Fort Wayne Museum of Art.
In 2018, he visited Cuba with a group of artists and later participated in a group exhibition titled “Columbus in Cuba, Cuba in Columbus.” The exhibition was shown in Columbus, Ohio and then traveled to Cuba where it was part of the Cuban Biennale. Mark also participated in another project in 2023 that traveled to Cuba called “Cartas de Cuba, Letters from Ohio.”
In 2023, he had two paintings in a group show titled “of Black Skin” which was exhibited at the Schumacher Gallery in Capital University. Also in 2023, Bush participated in a group exhibition at the Columbus College of Art and Design called “Constellation,” an event which was used to raise money for a student scholarship fund.
Mark is a proud resident of Columbus, Ohio where he lives with his wife, Amber and son, Jack. His paintings are part of major local collections like the Pizzuti Collection, the Hilton Downtown art collection, the Hilton 2.0, the Greater Columbus Convention Center, and former mayor of Columbus, Michael B. Coleman. He consistently participates in the Art for Life charity event and was awarded the first Peer to Peer award in honor of Denny Griffith, former president of CCAD.
Mark’s paintings have been published in exhibition catalogs and major publications like American Art Collector and the Manifest International Painting Annual.