Lizzy Martinez utilizes the figure to engage social advocacy, butting against the perceptions of time and art history focusing on women’s experiences usually guiding them towards unconventional protagonists. Martinez has exhibited at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Springfield Museum of Art, Danforth Museum of Art, and the Figge Art Museum. She has shown in both the United States and Ireland and is a two-time St. Louis Regional Arts Commission Awardee, a VCCA Fellow, and a recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Award for outstanding work in painting as well as funding from Cerf+, The Andy Warhol Foundation, and The West Collection located in Philadelphia. Creatively benefiting from residencies through the support of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Crosstown Arts, Paul Artspace, Craft Alliance Center for Art + Design, and Soaring Gardens Artist Retreat. She teaches drawing and painting at the University of Missouri St. Louis. Using her voice to shine a light on important issues, Martinez has planned exhibitions and art events around topics such as domestic violence, gun control, extreme climate change, endangered species protection, and human trafficking. Her practice expresses complex and difficult ideas that struggle to find adequate attention.