Allen Hessler, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba to Austrian immigrants, was raised and educated in his hometown, where he studied Illustration and Graphic Design before attending the University of Manitoba School of Fine Art. After graduation, he received a French Government scholarship to study at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
Hessler taught silkscreen and woodcut printing at the University of Manitoba School of Art from 1981 to 1987 before relocating to Montréal, where he worked in his Bleury Street Haunted studio until 2005. He currently works at his studio in Saint Henri.
A member of the Conseil de l’Estampe Québécois, Hessler received Québec Arts Council project grants for two print portfolios, Abbott Cadabra (1989) and Le Quartier Hanté (1997). He taught at institutions such as the Saidye Bronfman Art Center, Dawson College, and John Abbott College, and served as a counselor at Omer DeSerres from 1993 to 2013. A member of ARTS NDG, he has exhibited widely, including solo exhibitions at Crystal Racine Gallery, such as Rencontres / Encounters (2012) and Voyage Graphique (2015).
