Bio

My name is Joan Marie Giampa and I am from Washington, DC. I was born in Arlington, Virginia. I received an MFA in painting from the University of Maryland in 1998 and a BFA in graphic design from James Madison University in 1983. In the spring of 2012 I will earn a Doctorate of Philosophy in Community College Education at George Mason University. I teach design and painting at Northern Virginia Community College, Loudoun Campus.

About Painting

I have been exhibiting my work professionally since 1993. My work is in private collections throughout the United States and Europe. Last year I was selected to be in Mary Washington University's annual Mid-Atlantic Painting Exhibition. The exhibition was curated by John Ravenal, curator for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Another exhibition I was invited to display my work in last year was "Virginia Painters Process Unveiled" , Rawls Museum, Courtland Virginia.

Over the past several years, I have been working on a series of images called “Earth Objects”. The objects, usually pods, are collected during my walks through the woods in the early morning. Recently the work has evolved into a process I call "image archaeology".  My new work is more focused on the origins of the found object in its native environment and the organic patterns found within the object. I am passionate about the structure of design in nature and the underlying structure of painting.

About Teaching

I have always been interested in problem solving and critical analysis which is
why I love to teach foundations design courses in art. Courses I teach are: computer graphics 101 and 201, foundation design, color theory, digital imaging 256, drawing 101 and 201, painting, integrated Arts (humanities core course), online course—the introduction to art 101(art appreciation) and multimedia web design. I have been teaching college level courses full and part-time since 1997. 

In the fall of 2005, I took a course called “The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) 604 at George Mason University. The course introduced me to the discourse of the SOTL Movement in education. Taking this course was a pinacle period in my teaching career and in November of 2005, I was admitted into the doctorate program in higher education at George Mason University. The program focuses on teaching in higher education as scholarship.

I continue to grow and develop in my art and my teaching and one feeds the other. My students are gifts, as I always learn more from them they could possibly learn from me. I truly believe that teaching and learning is an organic process. The classroom is the arena where growth takes place for all minds concerned.