Markus Tracy is a studio artist, muralist, socially engaged artist, award-winning arts programmer, and teaching artist. Markus actively exhibits his studio art and receives mural commissions and socially engaged art projects throughout the United States. He also collaborates with artists, artist teams, schools, correctional facilities, civic and nonprofit organizations. Markus uses his creative endeavors as a foundation to inspire, promote, and plan long-term sustainable arts projects and programs.

Markus is a roster teaching artist for the state art councils of: Nevada, Utah, South Dakota, North Dakota Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, and a roster teaching artist for the Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts Arts Teach in Costa Mesa, California and for Lifetime Arts Creative Aging in New Rochelle, New York. 

"One of my teaching philosophies is to guide my students to seek out their passions through encouragement, bravery, and to believe in themselves. Establishing a voice within your artistic practice be it through social and/or cultural constructs; equity, diversity, and inclusion; social and emotional learning; and environmental preservation and conservation are all guiding philosophies that I share. It's those influences that make up the building blocks of each student and community member to become a well-rounded role model for their school and community.”

My success as a community artist occurs when I explore and teach new artistic strategies through community dialogue, social activism, and partnerships with city/county cultural facilities, non profit/for profit agencies, civic institutions, public/private schools, native reservations, underrepresented and marginalized communities, nursing and veterans homes. The community artist is "civically engaged" through partnerships in the understanding and celebration of cultural diversity, socioeconomic concerns, conflict resolution, celebration of past histories, current events that help shape individual communities, and hopes for a productive and sustainable future. The outcome of these "shared experiences" empowers individuals and communities to make positive choices fostering tolerance and respect. These relationships promote a positive outlet for artistic expression, community dialogue, access to social services, reduction of depression and negative behavior, and most importantly life-skill excersises in and through the arts.