Margaret Alleva was born in Arlington, Massachusetts and educated in the Boston area.  She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Massachusetts College of Art.  A resident of Fairfax, Virginia, the artist specializes in oil painting and has exhibited regularly throughout the Washington area.  Her one-person shows include exhibits at George Mason University Institute of the Arts, Fairfax, VA; corporate headquarters of TRW Systems Integration Group, Fair Lakes VA and GTE Corporation, Chantilly, VA; and Mill River Galleries, Ellicott City, MD.

The artist’s work has been featured in group exhibits at Foundry Gallery, Washington, DC; Reinike Gallery, Atlanta, GA; Wilson Center Gallery, Washington DC;  Lalit  Kala Gallery, New Delhi, India;  Harvard University, Cambridge, MA;  Moscoso Gallery, Washington, DC;  The Athenaeum, Alexandria, VA; the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC; and Rock Creek Art Gallery,  Washington, DC.