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Donna McNeil

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Donna McNeil
Born1940s
Würzburg, Germany
Education
Occupation(s)Arts advocate, author, and curator
HonoursMaine College of Art honorary PhD

Donna McNeil (born 1940s)[a] is an American arts advocate, author, and curator. She is the founding executive director of the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation and the former director of the Maine Arts Commission.

Early life and education

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McNeil was born in Würzburg, Germany.[1] She was educated at Syracuse University, where she earned a bachelor of fine arts in painting and Harvard University, where she earned a master of arts in liberal studies focused on art history. She holds an honorary Ph.D in Fine Arts from the Maine College of Art.[2]

Career

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She was the co-director of Artists in Context and the former executive director of the Maine Arts Commission.[2] She has served as a juror for the National Endowment for the Arts[3] and MacArthur Foundation.[4]

She is the author of the 2017 book There Has to Be Magic: The Art of Evelyn Kok, which won the Excellence in Publishing award at the Maine Literary Awards in 2018.[5][6] She also wrote Moser: Legacy in Wood about the Thos. Moser company, published in 2015.[7]

Since 2017, McNeil has served as the executive founding director of the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation, an arts grant and residency in Rockland, Maine.[8]

Books

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  • There Has to Be Magic: The Art of Evelyn Kok, Maine Authors Publishing, 2017[5]
  • Donna McNeil & Thomas Moser, Moser: Legacy in Wood, Down East Books, ISBN 978-1-60893-607-6, 2015[7]

Personal life

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McNeil has spoken in support of reproductive freedom, describing her own experience with a pre-Roe v. Wade abortion in 1965.[9][10]

Notes

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  1. ^ born in 1946 or 1947. (She was aged 70 in 2017.[1])

References

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  1. ^ a b "Donna McNeil". The Mainers. The Mainers. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Moser: Legacy in Wood". Bookshop.org. Bookshop.org. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Local Arts Agencies: FY 2010 Grants Panelists | Access to Artistic Excellence, Panel A, June 10-11, 2009". National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Board of Directors and Staff". Ellis-Beauregard Foundation. Ellis-Beauregard. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b "'There Has to Be Magic' named Excellence in Publishing Winner at 2018 Maine Literary Awards". PenBay Pilot. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  6. ^ Lizotte, Melissa (17 July 2018). "Book about Presque Isle artist and her family wins state literary award". The County. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  7. ^ a b Duguay, Carl. "Moser: Legacy in Wood". Canadian Woodworking. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  8. ^ "McNeil to helm Ellis-Beauregard Foundation". Knox County VillageSoup. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Now This | Donna McNeil On Having An Abortion Before Roe V. Wade". Twitter. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Pre-Roe Abortion Patient Blasts LePage, Republicans for 'Relentless' Efforts to Strip Away Abortion Rights". Maine Dems. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
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