Shimon Okshteyn was born in Chernovtsy, Ukraine in 1951. In 1973 He Graduated from Odessa Art Institute, Odessa, Ukraine with a Bachelor degree in Fine Arts. In 1979 Okshteyn Emigrated to the United States, where he settled for a time in Springfield, Massachusetts. By 1989 he had relocated to New York City and South Hampton, NY to live and work. In 1997 he is awarded at Biennale Internationale Dell Arte Contemporanca Florence, Italy. In 2001 He was a visiting Artist at Washington University, Department of Printmaking, St. Louis, as well as Washington University, Island Press Collaborative Print Workshop.