Â鶹´«Ã½

This piece is a representation of Modell’s grief after losing her husband, David Modell, former president of the Baltimore Ravens, to lung cancer, leaving her to raise their nearly 2-year-old twins alone.

Modell shared how the love of her life was gone, yet the world kept spinning, indifferent to her heartbreak.

“But my children needed me,� Michel Modell said. “Slowly, I began to move forward, not because I was ready, but because I had to.�

When she started painting again, it was with urgency. Using the time to process her pain that lived within her, that’s when the butterflies began. One by one, she painted over 200 — each representing a memory, a moment and a piece of grief transformed.

Her work, along with 23 others that submitted their artwork for judging, inspired American Cancer Society team members across the nation. Submissions began on April 15, in honor of World Art Day, and closed on June 30.

Judging was done July 1 through Aug. 30, going through vigorous rounds of elimination to a final five, then finally Modell was crowned the winner of the 2025 Artist of the Year Contest.

Modell was born in San Diego, California. As the youngest child of a military family she became well versed in traveling the world and translating her environment in a creative manner.

At age 10, she began a long love affair with competitive and later professional figure skating. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Ocean Engineering from Florida Tech, Modell returned to her first love of figure skating and joined a variety of traveling shows both domestic and worldwide.

After retiring from professional figure skating in 1998, Model began to explore other mediums of expression outside the realm of performing arts. This exploration led her to take continuing education classes at both Maryland Institute College of Art and the Corcoran College of Art. After achieving her Master’s in Painting from the esteemed Hoffberger School of Painting at Maryland Institute College of Art, Modell set up a full-time studio practice out of Oxford and continues to show her painting domestically and worldwide. Concurrently she serves on the Board of Mica and the Board of Florida Tech.

Since 2017, Modell has become executive vice president of Modell Family Ventures and splits her days between family business, her studio practice and raising her 6-year-old twins.