Photo by Julia Merrell
Emily Bellinger is a full-time artist and owner of Mmmily Handmade, based in Rochester, NY. Her work blends fine art and traditional craft through improvisational quilts, focusing on shape, composition, and three-dimensional elements. Using a contemporary color palette and iconic imagery, Bellinger evokes both humor and emotion, often exploring themes of memory and nostalgia.
Her quilts have been featured in exhibitions regionally and nationally, including Fiberart International 2022 at Brew House Association in Pittsburgh, PA, and Form, Not Function: Quilt Art at the Carnegie Center for Art & History in New Albany, IN, where she was awarded an Award of Excellence by the Louisville Area Fiber & Textile Artists in 2019. Her piece Fractured Memories was showcased in Art in Craft Media 2017 at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, where it remains part of their permanent collection. In 2023, she held a solo exhibition titled Tender is the Storm at the City Art Space in Rochester, NY.
Bellinger earned her BFA from Alfred University (2011) and her MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology (2016). She taught as an adjunct professor at RIT from 2016 to 2023, where she instructed both beginner quilting and business practices courses for artists. Now a full-time artist, Bellinger runs Mmmily Handmade, where she participates in local art festivals and sells her work online. Her quilts also adorn private homes and businesses across the United States.