229-333-5800 March 7, 2012
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Dr. Paula McNeill: Documenting Lives Through Art
VALDOSTA -- Art educator and photographer Dr. Paula McNeill
divides her time between Valdosta, where she is an associate
professor of art at Valdosta State University, and Escalante, Utah,
where her family has had a summer home since 1980. McNeill received
her B.A. in art from Arizona State University-Tempe, her M.A. from
the University of New Mexico-Albuquerque and her Ph.D. from the
University of Missouri-Columbia.
With an interest in community art, McNeill has documented the art
and lives of visual artists in southern Utah through videotaped
oral history interviews for more than 10 years. She has published
some of these findings and has made numerous presentations at state
and national meetings on this research topic, including invited
speaker for the Featured Artist at the Escalante Canyons Art
Festival for eight years since its 2004 inception.
McNeill is currently involved in a similar regional research study,
The South Georgia Artists Oral History Project, documenting
local artist/teachers in South Georgia where she lives and
works.
McNeill’s local, state and regional presentations for Fall 2011
included:
Inspired by Grandeur: The Art and Life of Western Landscape
Painter Valerie Orlemann, featured artist for the Eighth Annual
Escalante Canyons Art Festival (Everett Ruess Days), September
22-25, 20ll, Escalante, Utah
‘Smile on a Stick:’ Creative Writing from Photographs,
Second Annual Core Matters Conference, October 7-8, 2011, Valdosta
State University, Valdosta, Georgia
‘Smile on a Stick:’ Creative Writing from Photographs,
Creativity Everyday, Georgia Art Education Association (GAEA)
Professional Development Fall Conference, October 20-22, 2011,
Marietta, Georgia
In association with the above GAEA conference, McNeill’s
photograph, Brett’s Bike, was juried into Unmasking
Creativity: Process & Product, The Georgia Art Education
Association 2011 Member Exhibition (Jurors: Lanny Milbrandt and
Enid Zimmerman), August 24-October 22, 2011, The Art Gallery,
Sturgis Library, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia
Narrative Inquiry: the South Georgia Artists Oral History
Project, Art Education Forum XI-B: Research, Instruction, and
Best Practices Panel, Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC),
November 9-12, 20ll, Savannah, Georgia
Spring 2012:
McNeill presented Doing Narrative Inquiry in Art Education:
Artist/Teachers Oral History Project at the National Art
Education Association (NAEA) annual meeting held in New York City,
March 1-4, 2012.
In addition, McNeill’s photographs, Brett’s Bike and Bird
Girl, were juried into the 2012 NAEA Women’s Caucus
Exhibition: Emerging Perspectives (juror Howardena Pindell)
held at NAEA March 1-4, 2012 and published in an upcoming
exhibition catalog.
