Academics at MBC
Art History Faculty
Marlena Hobson, Associate Professor of Art History
Marlena Hobson has a PhD in art history from Virginia Commonwealth University
in Richmond, Virginia. Her dissertation focused on the work of the
Novecento group of painters in 1920’s Italy and their relationship
to Benito Mussolini and the Fascist Party. Marlena’s minor concentration
was in Pre-Columbian art and architecture. She takes frequent trips
to Mexico, including the Yucatan, Chiapas, Campeche, and Oaxaca regions
to study ancient Mayan and Zapotec archeological sites. In May 2004
Marlena took a group of Mary Baldwin College art students to Oaxaca
as part of an interdisciplinary May Term abroad course with the Department
of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. Marlena began teaching
at Mary Baldwin College in fall 1987. She teaches courses in modern
art, women in the arts, history of photography, American art and architecture,
pre-Columbian art and architecture, and twentieth century Latin American
art. She has published exhibition reviews in the New Art Examiner and
the Art Papers Magazine.
Sara Nair James, Professor of Art History
Sara Nair James, Professor of Art History, holds a BA in art from Mary
Baldwin College, an MA in humanities (Medieval Studies) from Old Dominion
University, and a PhD in art history (Italian Renaissance) from the
University of Virginia. She teaches art history and interdisciplinary
courses in Ancient, Medieval, Italian Renaissance, Baroque, and early
English art and architecture. During May Term, she leads groups of
Mary Baldwin students on a trip --- usually to Italy --- to share her
knowledge of, and enthusiasm for art, history, and contemporary culture.
Dr. James has received travel grants for research from the Kress Foundation
and the Ross and Yum Arnold Fund. For spring 2007, she has received
her second appointment to the American Academy in Rome as a Visiting
Scholar. She contributes regularly to the Sixteenth Century Journal, the Renaissance
Quarterly, and Historians of British Art as a book reviewer.
Her publications include a chapter, "Vasari on Signorelli: The
Origins of the Grand Manner of Painting," in Reading Vasari (Philip
Wilson, 2005) and a book, entitled Signorelli and Fra Angelico
at Orvieto: Liturgy, Poetry and a Vision of the End-time, (Ashgate
Publishing, 2003). Her web site address is: http://academic.mbc.edu/sjames/
Studio Art Faculty
Shay Herring Clanton, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art
Shay Herring Clanton graduated from Mary Baldwin College where she received
a BA with a double major in art history and studio art. Subsequently
she finished two years of graduate course work in the
School of Art History at Vanderbilt University; and, in 2000 she
earned the MFA in painting and drawing from James Madison University.
Shay currently teaches courses in painting, drawing, and foundation
design at Mary Baldwin College. She also teaches studio art courses
at the Beverley Street Studio School in Staunton, Virginia,
and she periodically teaches classes for the gifted and talented
program for area high school art students. From 1996-2000 she
taught Figure Drawing and Basic Drawing in the art department
at James Madison University.
Shay is a professional painter, working in oil and watercolor as well
as pastel. She has an extensive exhibition record and has exhibited at
the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (Winston-Salem, N.C.), the
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond), Bridgewater College, Mary Baldwin
College, William H. King Regional Art Center, the Staunton Augusta Art
Center, and the Beverley Street Studio School. Currently she is working
on a series of watercolor journal paintings that reflect her interest
in the natural world and in environmental advocacy. She is also working
on a series of large abstract oil paintings based on local
springs and rivers. Shay lives on Clayton Mill Creek near Deerfield,
Virginia.
Anne Hanger, Visiting Professor of Art (part-time)
Anne Hanger studied art at the Maryland Institute in Baltimore where
she earned a BFA in graphic design and an MFA in printmaking in 1977.
A book designer earlier in her career, she now works primarily as a
watercolorist. Her paintings have been exhibited extensively in both
regional and national juried exhibitions including the Watercolor USA
national juried exhibition at the Springfield Museum of Art, the LaGrange
National Juried show in Georgia, the Florida National, the Mississippi
Watercolor Society, "Collage Southeast: A Group Invitational" at
the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, the "Mississippi
Invitational" at the Mississippi Museum of Art, the Huntsville
Museum of Art, and the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans. Her
most recent project has been to complete a series of eight large watercolors
of daylilies for First National Bank and Trust in Louisville, Georgia.
Anne earned the rank of full professor at Auburn University where she
taught for fifteen years prior to leaving to focus more time on her
creative work. She teaches all levels of graphic design at Mary Baldwin.
Sue Marion, Instructor of Art/Education (part-time)
Sue Ann Marion studied art at Radford College in Radford, VA where she
earned a BA in education. She started her teaching career as a junior
high art teacher in Adelphi, MD. She became an art supervisor for the
Clarke County Schools in Athens, GA and taught art classes for the
Continuing Education Department of the University of Georgia. After
moving back to Virginia, Sue was employed as an elementary art teacher
for the Lexington City Schools in Lexington, VA. She became an elementary
art teacher for the Waynesboro City Schools teaching one year as a
high school art teacher. Sue began teaching courses in art education
at Mary Baldwin in 1983. She "retired" from the Waynesboro
City Schools in 1990 to concentrate on her passion for teaching students
at Mary Baldwin, emphasizing the practice of incorporating art in their
curriculum as future teachers. Sue graduated from Radford University
with a Masters in Science in 1990 with a concentration in art education.
She has taught for the Augusta County Schools as an Artist-in-Residence,
worked with the talented and gifted, and held teacher workshops. Sue
has also judged various public school art shows and now volunteers
to teach art as a community service. Sue has been an art educator for
over forty years. She has exhibited her paintings for a number of years
at the Waynesboro Fall Foliage Festival.
Nancy Ross, Adjunct Instructor of Art
Nancy Ross received a BA in studio art from the University of Maryland.
She did not begin to work in clay until she returned from serving two
years in the Peace Corps. Primarily self-taught, Nancy started her
career as a studio potter in 1973 with a line of functional, wheel-thrown
stoneware. In 1980 she received the MA in ceramics from James Madison
University, with the intention of teaching ceramics. However, she pursued
a full-time career as an independent studio potter for the next 20
years, exhibiting throughout the East coast at various annual
craft fairs and galleries, and teaching community courses.
Nancy has been involved in AVA, the Virginia professional organization
for artisans, as a juried exhibitor, board member and officer and was
president when the Artisans Center of Virginia was formed in 1998.
Nancy began teaching at MBC in 2002, finding it a perfect fit for her
desire to share her love of clay with many motivated students. She
continues her own studio work in addition to various professional activities,
including coordinating “The English Connection,” a national
clay conference held at MBC in June 2006.
Paul Ryan, Professor of Art
A painter and art critic, Paul Ryan is Professor of Art in the Department
of Art and Art History at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia.
He teaches all levels of drawing and painting, and courses in art criticism
and contemporary art. He is also the Director of Hunt Gallery, the
college’s art gallery. Paul has an MFA in painting from the School
of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University, and a BA in English
from Principia College. Since 1983 Paul has shown his work in numerous
solo and group exhibitions in a variety of venues, including Reynolds
Gallery (Richmond, VA), 1708 Gallery (Richmond, VA), Hartell Gallery
at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), The McLean Project for the Arts
(McLean, VA), The University Gallery at The University of South Carolina
(Spartanburg, SC), Fine Arts Building Gallery at Virginia Commonwealth
University (Richmond, VA), The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond,
VA), Leeds Gallery at Earlham College (Richmond, Indiana), and the
Armory Gallery at Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA). Paul has been a contributing
editor for Art Papers Magazine since 1990. Since 1989 he has
contributed to Art Papers Magazine, Sculpture Magazine, Artlies
Magazine, and the New Art Examiner. He is represented
by Reynolds Gallery, and his paintings are in numerous public, corporate,
and private collections. His web site address is: http://www.mbc.edu/faculty/pryan/
Martha Saunders, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art
Native Virginian, Martha Saunders, currently residing in Charlottesville,
Virginia, received her undergraduate degree in painting and printmaking
from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1981. She maintained a studio
and exhibited work on the East Coast for ten years, and in 1993 received
a MFA in painting from Maryland Institute College of Art. In tandem
with studio work Martha has spent twenty one years in the field of
education working in a range of positions, from art program facilitator
in a large inner city school system to teaching visual art studios
and art history for universities during the past twelve years.
Although starting out as a figurative painter and printmaker, beginning
in the 1990’s her work combined sculptural, painting, and drawing
sensibilities and moved towards a studio practice which revolved around
materials and methods possessing properties of flexibility, delicacy,
and transparency. The resulting works are formed with layers of materials
and drawn or collaged imagery invoking notions of stability and flux
simultaneously. The 2000 SECAC Artist Fellowship supported the completion
of one such piece, Mind Skin II, a 90’ x 3’ beeswax
wall relief. This work was shown at the McMaster Gallery, University
of South Carolina in the fall of 2001. Currently Martha is working on
and exhibiting a series of encaustic panel paintings, Oscillating
Vistas, which draw inspiration from the experience of walking and
how it shapes our thoughts. Her work is part of several corporate collections,
including Capital One, MCV / VCU Health Services, and CMSS Architects.
Jim Sconyers, Assistant Professor of Art
Jim Sconyers, Jr. is an artist working in a variety of media, including
printmaking, photography, and digital media. In 2002, he received his
MFA in printmaking with distinction from Indiana University's Henry
Radford Hope School of Fine Arts. Since that time, his work has been
selected for both national and international exhibition, including
the Global Matrix print exhibition in 2003 and Prints! exhibition
in Rome, Italy in 2004. Jim’s body of pinhole photography, transition
(memory), has been featured in four solo exhibitions: Staunton
Augusta Art Center, Staunton, Virginia; The PVCC Gallery, Piedmont
Valley Community College, Charlottesville, Virginia; Crandall Gallery,
Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio; and E. Taylor Greer Art Gallery,
Ferrum College, Ferrum, Virginia. Jim has exhibited work in the Annual
UNCA-Art Alumni Exhibition, University of North Carolina at Asheville,
and was one of 25 artists selected to exhibit in The 14th Annual
New Images Exhibition: A Juried Photo Competition for the Mid-Atlantic
States, New Image Gallery, James Madison University. Jim was also
one of 20
artists from various countries selected for inclusion
in the Emission Portfolio, which was exhibited
at the 4th IMPACT International Print Conference in Berlin, Germany
in September 2005. The final portfolio has been shown in museums and
galleries worldwide from Berlin to Malaysia, including the "Universitat
der Kunste” Berlin Gallery and other venues in the U.S.A,
Poland, and Italy. In 2006, Jim was the recipient of a Mednick Fellowship
from the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges to explore the
themes of community, collaboration, and communication. His current
work is scheduled to debut in Hunt Gallery, Mary Baldwin College, in
spring 2008.
