Born in 1931 in National City, California Lives in Santa Monica, California; works in Venice, California Baldessari attended San Diego State University and did post-graduate work at Otis Art Institute, Chouinard Art Institute, and the University of California, Berkeley. He taught at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California, from 1970 to 1988 and the University of California, Los Angeles, from 1996-2007. Baldessari's artwork, including projects such as artist books, videos, films, billboards, and public works, has been featured in more than 200 solo exhibitions and in over 1,000 group exhibitions in the U.S. and Europe. His awards and honors include memberships in the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Americans for the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award, the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, the BACA International 2008, and the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, awarded by La Biennale di Venezia in 2009.