MICHAEL B. PAOLERCIO

An award-winning writer and an award-winning artist, Michael B. Paolercio is a self-taught artist, who first picked up a pencil back in July of 2006.

His fascination with art and artists, however, began at a very young age when childhood asthma restricted his outdoor activities. He read hundreds of books and thousands of comics and from that background emerged his desire to tell stories and create art.

Born and raised in Cincinnati, Michael attended La Salle High School and the University of Dayton where he received a B.A. in Communications/Journalism. After a brief stint of working part-time at The Cincinnati Enquirer, Michael became the sports editor of the Troy (Ohio) Daily News. He moved three years later to The Kentucky Post and 18 months later returned as a full-time sports writer for The Enquirer.

He covered many beats in sports from high schools to Xavier University basketball to the beat reporter on the Cincinnati Reds and professional baseball for more than 10 years. He was named Prep Sportswriter of the Year in Ohio several times. He won the Ohio Associated Press Best Breaking Sports Story (1988, Tom Browning’s Perfect Game). Michael is an Emeritus member of the Baseball Writers Association of America and has the great honor of voting annually for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In the early 1990s, Michael left the newspaper business and formed his own sports agency in partnership with Brian M. Goldberg called Riverfront Sports Management. He recruited and represented more than 100 high school and college baseball prospects, including future Cincinnati Reds players Chris Reitsma, Chris Sexton, Andy Abad and Jared Fernandez, Montreal and Colorado pitcher Zach Day, San Diego Padres pitcher Ben Howard and Cleveland Indians pitcher Scott Lewis.

Since the late 1980s, Michael has worked for the LaRosa’s company as Committee Chairman for the LaRosa’s High School Hall of Fame, a position he currently holds.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

“Those who tell the stories rule the world.”

-- Hopi American Indian Proverb

Story-telling is the most ancient of all traditions. It still fascinates me today and I strive to accomplish that in my art work. My favorite art tells a story. It may be my story. Or the viewer may interpret the same painting with his or her story. It’s the story that counts. Art should speak to you and touch your soul. If I am so fortunate to do that with my paintings, then I have done what I set out to do.