Beverly McIver

Beverly McIver studied at Pennsylvania State University, North Carolina Central University and Grimsley High School. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is painting, portrait painting and art history. Employment is recorded with Duke University, Arizona State University and North Carolina State University. Work by Beverly McIver is recorded in the collections of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Baltimore Museum of Art, Weatherspoon Art Museum and Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. Distinctions recorded are Anonymous Was A Woman Award, Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Biennial Award and Guggenheim Fellowship.

• Name — Beverly McIver • Born — c. 1962 • Birthplace — Greensboro, North Carolina • Education — Pennsylvania State University North Carolina Central University • Known for — Painting • Awards — Emerging Artist Grant Recipient, Durham Arts Council

McIver was the youngest of three daughters and raised by a single mother who worked as a maid to support their family. Her mother’s attention and resources were mostly focused on McIver’s older sister, Renee, who was mentally disabled. Her autobiographical paintings are richly colorful and chronicles her life struggle with her African-American identity. While attending a predominantly white, affluent high school, McIver was a member of the school’s clowning club. Performing in clown makeup and a wig empowered McIver: “As a clown…I was transformed, and in many ways more acceptable to society. No one cared that I was black or poor. I was embraced.” Considering going to clown school for a brief period of time, McIver decided to pursue a career in art, earning her Master of Fine Art at Penn State University and an honorary doctorate from North Carolina Central University. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Painting and Drawing at North Carolina Central University in 1987.

McIver's work explores personal identity, and besides self-portraiture she is known for painting the people who surround her in everyday life. She received several honors for her work including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award. A documentary about McIver's life entitled Raising Renee was featured on HBO and nominated for an Emmy award. In 2011, McIver was named "top ten in painting" for Art In America magazine. McIver also has works featured in the Mint Museum of Art & the North Carolina Museum of Art. She's currently the Esbenshade Professor of the Practice of Visual Arts at Duke University. Her work is also in the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro, N.C., the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the NCCU Museum of Art, the Asheville Museum of Art, The Crocker Art Museum, The Cameron Art Museum, The Nasher Museum and the Nelson Fine Arts Museum on the campus of Arizona State University. She won the Rome Prize in Visual Arts from the American Academy in Rome in 2017-2018.