Ed Charbonneau

Ed Charbonneau is an adjunct faculty member of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD). Since 2009, he has taught classes in the Foundation, Fine Arts, and Arts Entrepreneurship departments, and as an occasional mentor in the MFA program. He holds an MFA degree in Visual Studies from MCAD (2006) and BFA degree in painting from the College of Visual Arts (1999). He has also taught as an adjunct instructor at St. Paul’s Concordia, Hamline, and Metropolitan State Universities, as well as at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. He has conducted painting workshops with High Schools and youth organizations, such as St. Paul’s Harding High School, Hastings High School in Hastings, Minnesota, and the Little Earth of United Tribes’ Native Youth Arts Collective in Minneapolis.

Charbonneau’s teaching methodologies are informed by his in-depth color theory research. He independently writes, voices, and produces the podcast, Chromosphere: The Color Theory Podcast, which is currently in its fourth season with a global audience. He is also a member of the Colour Literacy Project’s newly-established University Partners Network. In the spring of 2022, he co-taught Color for ALL, a collaboration between MCAD and the Target Corporation to co-design an industry-leading inclusive color palette system which makes meaningful contributions to fulfilling diverse guest needs in apparel and home categories. He will co-teach Color for ALL 2.0 in the spring of 2025, expanding on the success of this project.

Charbonneau’s collaborative and personal artworks and commissions have been collected and exhibited nationally and internationally. He is currently represented by Holly Hunt Showrooms. He has created murals and large-scale installations for businesses and private collectors over the past thirty-six years. Notable examples of these can be found at the Medtronic Corporation in Columbia Heights, Minnesota and the US Bank/Vikings Stadium in downtown Minneapolis. He lives in St. Louis Park, Minnesota and works at a painting studio in the Midway area of St. Paul.

Chromosphere: The Color Theory Podcast