Born in Los Angeles, Maccabee Shelley studied environmental science before committing to art full time in 2010. Maccabee was a studio technician and teaching assistant at City College of San Francisco, and while earning a BA in Studio Art and a minor in Art History at Humboldt State University. Maccabee then spent two post-baccalaureate years developing work at California State University Long Beach where he was also a teaching assistant and traveled to Italy for two consecutive summers to help establish an art center and assist attending students. He is currently pursuing an MFA in ceramics at University of California Los Angeles and will graduate in 2019.