Joanne stayed with Willow Brook Farm during May of 2016 to forward The Cookbook Project.
Thank you Tim, Austin, and Taylor for welcoming me to Willow Brook Farm. I had an inspirational week of my personal writing and experimenting with wood burning. On the farm, shoots were just beginning to sprout out of the earth, just as the idea for my project was beginning to take shape. I was very conscious of the abundant possibilities embedded in the property and its mission. This is a restorative place for artists and farmers to collaborate and build a movement of hope and change.
My current focus is using the practice of fine art bookmaking. I explore how the traditional form of the book can be transformed through the use of alternative materials. The goal is to create a non-textual narrative represented in the nexus of content, concept, and form. And that will end the art-speak.
Bottom line, I make art because I have to and when I am not making stuff I feel unbalanced. I am currently making books to work through my deepest life questions and right now I have a lot of questions. I am interested in building on both the joy and pain of the past to create something new and inclusive; clearing the way for future happiness.
Previously, I was a tenured professor in both Art and Communication at the University of Tampa. My legacy there [beyond the hire of Santiago Echeverry] includes the creation of the multidisciplinary Electronic Media Art and Technology Program. It was designed to support those interested in a self-directed major that combines art, communication, English, music, computer information systems, and entrepreneurship. I gravitate toward solving problems through building community and applied this practice to my work with U of Tampa.
I have 20 plus years of teaching, mentoring, and advising experience, with particular expertise in the areas of interactive design and production (web and mobile), the intersection of art and technology, creative thinking, visual literacy, print layout design and production, and career and portfolio development.
I hold a Master of Fine Arts from the Maine College of Art, as well as a Bachelor of Science in biomedical communication and fine art photography from the RIT School of Photographic Arts and Sciences.