Max Sansing, a Chicago native, was raised on the Southside in the Avalon Park community. Fueled by the desire to create art, Sansing taught himself oil painting and later completed two years of formal college training at The American Academy of Art from 1999 to 2000.  In addition to painting full time, Sansing has expanded his creativity and artistic talents into creating murals across Chicago, and translating art into electronic media as a graphic design artist.  His current art influences include Norman Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish, Gustav Klimt, Thomas Blackshear, and his late father, Ellis Sansing.