Topic: “Worthy of Winning”
Introduction / Moderator: Robert Pangborn / Patty Satalia
Location: President’s Hall, The Penn Stater
Bio: Beverly McIver was born in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1962. She is the youngest of three girls born to Ethel McIver. Her oldest sister Renee is mentally disabled. Renee is 48 but has the mindset of a second grader. Beverly is Renee’s legal guardian and they currently reside in Durham, North Carolina.
Beverly is widely acknowledged as a significant presence in contemporary American art in general and has charted a new direction as an African American woman artist. She is committed to producing art that consistently examines racial, gender, social and occupational identity. Her sister Renee is a frequent subject of the artist as well as other family members.
Her work is in the collection of the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro, N.C., the Baltimore Museum of Art, the NCCU Museum of Art, the Asheville Museum of Art, The Crocker Art Museum and the Nelson Fine Arts Museum on the campus of Arizona State University.
She is currently the Suntrust Endowed Chair Professor of Art at North Carolina Central University. Prior to this appointment, McIver taught at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. for twelve years, Duke University, North Carolina State University and North Carolina Central University. She has also held residencies at many of the nation’s leading artist communities, including YADDO, the Headland Center for the Arts, Djerassi, and Penland School of Crafts. She has served on the board at Penland School of Arts and Crafts and currently serves on the board of directors at YADDO in Saratoga Springs, NY.
McIver’s work has been reviewed in Art News, Art in America The New York Times and a host of local newspapers. She has received numerous grants and awards including the Anonymous Was A Woman Foundation grant, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a Radcliffe Fellowship from Harvard University, a Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation award, a distinguished Alumni Award from Pennsylvania State University, a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award and Creative Capital grant.
McIver earned a bachelor’s degree in art from North Carolina Central University, a master of fine arts degree in painting from Pennsylvania State University and an honorary doctorate from North Carolina Central University. She has been honored with numerous awards for her work, including: The Marie Walsh Sharpe Studio Space (2012); Distinguished Alumni Fellow, Pennsylvania State University (2010); Artist Of the Year Award, Scottsdale Cultural Council (2004); Louis Comfort Tiffany Award (03-04); Research and Creative Activity Award, Arizona State University (2003); Distinguished Alumni Award, Penn State University (2003); Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation, Studio Space for one year (2003); Radcliffe Fellow, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University (2002); Creative Capital, Project Grant (2002); John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (2001); Anonymous Was A Woman Grant (2000); Arizona Arts Commission Visual Arts Fellowship (2000); College of Fine Arts Research Grant, Arizona State University (2000); Artist Grant, Contemporary Forum, Phoenix Art Museum (1999); Project Grant, Arizona Arts Commission (1999); FIGA Grant, Research and Creative Activities, Arizona State University (1998); College of Fine Arts Research Grant. Arizona State University (1997); Full scholarship to the Headlands Center for the Arts, N.C. Arts Council (1995); N.C. Arts Council Visual Artist Fellowship Recipient (1994); Emerging Artist Grant. Durham Arts Council Inc. (1994); Travel Grant in Support of the Atlantic Center for the Arts Residency, Pennsylvania State University (1992); Educational Scholarship in Support of Graduate Studies, Saint James Baptist Church (1990).
*Preceding this Forum will be a screening of “Raising Renee,” the HBO documentary about Ms. McIver’s decision to adapt her career and life to assist with her mentally disabled sister. The screening will be held at 7pm on April 18, 2013 at the Palmer Lipcon Auditorium.