Isabel Manalo grew up in Madison, WI after living in the Philippines, her country of origin, for three years. Her work is exhibited and collected nationally and internationally as well as throughout the Washington DC area. She received an MFA in Painting from Yale University a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She currently is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at American University. The Studio Visit website provides virtual access to artists in their studios which in turn cultivates appreciation. It serves as a place for discovering newer and under exposed artists and strives to promote networking among artists as well as the greater art community by connecting people through this collaborative effort. TSV is also featuring artists who are entering a new threshold in their work and may already have gallery representation. Additionally, open studio visits are another new feature to the site. Through her role as founder and editor of The Studio Visit, Manalo hopes to break down the inaccessible and exclusive barriers of the art world by showing that artists are actually very ordinary human beings who have extraordinary ways of expressing themselves. She also hopes to connect people by creating a network of all aspects of the art and non-art community. With active Scout/Editors on board in various parts of the country, the site will be able to feature studio visits on a bi-weekly basis. All visits are archived on the site with a searchable database.