Bio

Born in Arlington, Virginia, Joan spent her formative years playing in the wooded areas and creek beds surrounding the Potomac River basin. At four years old, Joan stood in front of her easel, knowing she would be a painter. Joan has exhibited her paintings extensively throughout the Washington metropolitan area, and her paintings reside throughout the United States and Europe.  Her love of art extended beyond the studio, and she eventually became an educator in the field of higher education.
 

Joan holds a B.F.A. in graphic design from James Madison University and an M.F.A. in painting from the University of Maryland, 1998. In 2012 Joan received a Doctor of Arts from George Mason University in Art Education with an emphasis on foundation design and visual metaphor.

Joan's dissertation is titled Sinking Maps: A Conceptual Tool for Visual Metaphor.
 

Dr. Giampa spent 18 years teaching art, design, and visual communications in higher education. Joan's design work has extended over many decades.  She recently spent five years as a user interface designer in the healthcare marketing space, creating complex pattern libraries for large software interfaces.  
 

Dr. Giampa is currently a full-time painter and working on a new body of paintings that are a continuation of the "Earth Objects" series.

​