Passing the Torch!

On September 21 I was honored to preside at the meeting that voted David Campbell Wilson as the new President of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Alumni Association Council. Heartfelt congratulations to David who I know will lead the council forward with great skill and intelligence!

Outgoing PAFA Alumni Council President Nancy Bea Miller and new President David Campbell Wilson
photo: Jennifer Baker
art: Murray Dessner

I found my three year term of service as council President to be richly satisfying, challenging, broadening, stretching and often just plain fun! I highly recommend a stint of community service as a way to enhance your own life. Have to say, I was touched by initially being asked to consider "renewing" my term of office, but with a new degree, a new job and some new family obligations I decided this natural end of my term of office was a good time to pass on the torch, with grateful thanks! The PAFA Alumni Council is a wonderful collaboration, and we accomplished A LOT thanks to many people's combined efforts, energy, ideas, creativity and support.

Left to right: David Brigham, Fred Danziger, Jennifer Baker, Nancy Bea Miller, Laura Adams, Nancy Citrino, David Campbell Wilson, Maureen Drdak, Hilarie Hawley, Elizabeth Wilson, Jeffrey Carr. AAC members not pictured:
Eliza Auth, Holly Brigham, Martin Campos, Zachary Martin, Katrina Rakowski, Sterling Shaw
photo: André van de Putte 

Many, many, people who were a big part of of how much we managed to get done are not pictured here, probably too many to list for fear of omitting someone, but waves of gratitude to you all!

n.b.Special thanks to Nathanael Brouhard who keeps the AAC meetings energetic and sweet with coffee and doughnuts!

For more information on the PAFA Alumni Association Council look here.

PAFA's 113th Annual Student Exhibition

On May 9th I received my MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. As part of my graduate requirements I had to write a thesis and also hang a 21 foot long wall in the museum with a mini show or sampling of my current work. That display of work is part of this show:

113th Annual Student Exhibition

May 9 - June 1, 2014

Preview Party: May 8, 4 - 8:30 p.m.

Public Opening: May 9, 5 - 8 p.m.

The Annual Student Exhibition (ASE) has been a tradition for over a century and is the culminating event in PAFA’s artistic calendar. Each spring the graduating students of the Certificate, BFA and Master's programs mount an exhibition that fills the Museum exhibition galleries in the Samuel M. V. Hamilton Building. Over 11,000 visitors see more than a thousand works in all media. Sales at last year’s ASE grossed over $270,000. Graduating students compete for dozens of distinguished prizes and awards, including the illustrious Cresson Traveling Fellowship and the Caldwell Purchase Prize, in which a work by a graduating student is selected for purchase by the Museum and inclusion in PAFA’s permanent collection.

Click here to view an image gallery featuring a selection of works by students participating in this year’s exhibition.

Click here to view a sampling of my particular work in this exhibition.

On opening night we had to stand by our "walls" ready to discuss our work and greet patrons. Many friends and family members came by to show support. To view my informal photo album from that night click here.

PAFA, Broad and Cherry Streets, Philadelphia, PA, USA

The show is up through June 1, 2014. For museum hours and directions click here.