Artist Statement
ARTIST’S STATEMENT I spend several hours a day doing what I have always loved and have dedicated time to these days – painting. As a professor in commercial design and public relations for 30+ years, I didn’t always have the flexibility that I enjoy as a conceptual painter, although I enjoyed telling the stories of organizations, peoples, and communities. With both an art and journalism background, I am as much a storyteller as I am an artist. I enjoy telling my stories as well as those of people I have met along the way. An avid nonfiction reader, I try to incorporate a level of authenticity through descriptive and narrative detail in my paintings as I am writing or retelling a story through my art to give it broader meaning and, consequently, to build relationships. I share my love of art and my skills as an artist to elevate the status of individuals and communities. The most important work I’ve done was commissioned to hang in private homes. Such works include a painting for a fellow parishioner who could no longer attend Eucharistic Adoration as she had done so for years, so wanted to create a prayer room in her home; a painting requested by a nine-year-old that represented his longing to hug his grandmother while she suffered with the shingles; and, a painting from my photographs of neighborhoods in Italy for a third-generation Italian family who had never been there; a painting for a young woman who has recently been able to purchase a house after living in a motel for two years. Of equal significance to me -- five of my paintings hang in the office of a mental health counselor, and another one, an office in a Ronald MacDonald’s House. My medium of choice is acrylics on canvas. I love experimenting with color and texture and am steadfast to the details and a level of authenticity. Famed author Toni Morrison said, “At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint or even remember it. It is enough,” but until then, I paint! ARTIST’S BIO: M.A. in JOURNALISM, Texas Southern University Advertising/Public Relations, Organizational Communication Minor B.A. in ART, University of South Carolina Studio Art, Advertising Journalism Minor NON-CREDIT COURSEWORK: St. Bernard’s School of Ministry and Theology, Pittsford, NY; COURSERA CERTIFICATES: Arts and Heritage Management; Managing Fashion and Luxury Companies; Managing Food and Beverage Companies; and, International Leadership and Organizational Behavior – Università Bocconi; International Organizations Management – University of Geneva; The Changing Global Order – Universiteit Leiden; How to Change the World – Wesleyan University; Leadership in 21st Century Organizations (June 2017)– Copenhagen Business School HIGHER EDUCATION Teaching Full Time- TEMPORARY LECTURER in Communication Studies at LONGWOOD UNIVERSITY, Farmville, VA
- ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, Public Relations at ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Rochester, NY
- ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR Public Relations at WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY, Bowling Green, KY
- JOURNALISM INSTRUCTOR, COMMERCIAL ART INSTRUCTOR at BENEDICT COLLEGE, Columbia, SC
- STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK (SUNY) AT BROCKPORT, Brockport, NY
- O’MORE COLLEGE OF DESIGN, Franklin, TN
- TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, Houston, TX
- ART INSTITUTE OF HOUSTON, Houston, TX
- Artist and P.R. Consultant focusing on relationship-building, cultural authenticity, as well as designing short-term sabbaticals.
- Taught public relations, advertising design, and publication design for more than 30 years in American universities in Kentucky, Tennessee, New York, Virginia, Texas, and South Carolina (Associate Professor at Western Kentucky University and Rochester Institute of Technology), and worked for a number of years in publication design and management.
- Have lived in 11 states (including Alaska) and in two countries outside the USA.
- Professional interests are in social responsibility, fashion, and tourism P.R., and in study abroad.
- Collaborated on more than 13 papers and on conference presentations in Italy, the United States, and Spain (Including the International Conference of Education, Research and Innovation, the International Technology, Education and Development Conference, Culture & Change the International Conference on Knowledge and Change in Organizations, and, the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences)
- Taught courses in Italy and in the States on ethics in fashion, international P.R., and course collaboration on events planning and P.R. in the Italian tourism industry.
- The founding faculty adviser for chartered chapters of Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) at two universities: Rochester Institute of Technology, and Longwood University.
- Recipient of 10 teaching grants/fellowships
- In 2004, co-founded an organization called “Fashion for Good” to raise ethical awareness among fashion students, teachers, and professionals. Work done under the association’s umbrella became the topic for the only academic entry in the second edition of PRNews’ Guide to Best Practices in Corporate Social Responsibility in 2008, titled: “Readying the Fashion Industry for Ethics and Social Responsibility.”
- Principle Organizer for five highly successful, 150+attendees events that were joint ventures between community and academe
