Lila Maes-Shah was born in the San Francisco Bay Area. She received her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in Sculpture and her BA from San Francisco State University in Textile and Design. She is an artist, digital designer, educator, and healing arts practitioner. She is currently cultivating her work in social art practice, large-scale sculpture, and site-specific installations.

She has exhibited with SOMARTS, Yerba Buena Sculpture Walk, The Mission Cultural Center, FiveTen Gallery, The Lab, Big Sur Spirit Garden, and El Vagabundo Gallery in Oaxaca, Mexico. Her present work examines the human experience and often offers “options” for remediation.

She has co-produced many grassroots events, including The Hip Hop Film Festival, which was the first touring Hip Hop Film Festival. She was a Red Ladder company member with the San Jose Repertory Theater, where she worked with at-risk adolescents to empower them with theater performance skills. She has also worked at various community centers as an art educator.

She has a professional certification in Permaculture Design from Earth Activist Training (EAT) and has trained in massage at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur. She is a certified Massage Practitioner and is a licensed Esthetician in California. She is working on exploring the oral history in contemporary times through installations in public spaces and is the 2023 Fellow for the Marigold Project, Day of the Dead SF.