Debora Dancy
Deborah Dancy, also known as Deborah Muirhead (born 1949), is an American painter of large-scale abstractions in oil; she is also a printmaker and mixed media artist. Her work is also known to encompass digital photography. In 1981, she began to teach at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, where she taught painting for thirty-five years until her retirement in 2017.
Also recorded as Deborah Muirhead · Deborah Dancy
Debora Dancy
- Name
- Deborah Dancy
- Born
- 1949
- Birthplace
- Bessemer, Alabama
- Known for
- Painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, artist's books
- Training
- Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, Ill. - BFA (1973); Illinois State University, Normal, Ill. - MS in Printmaking (1976), MFA in Painting (1979)
- Movement
- Contemporary art, abstract art
- Awards
- 1985 - YADDO Fellowship 1997 - John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship
- Occupation
- painter · educator · printmaker
- Fields
- painting
- Movements
- contemporary art
- Education
- Illinois Wesleyan University · Illinois State University
- Honours
- Guggenheim Fellowship
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q61719403 · wikipedia · Deborah Dancy
In this article
Biography
Biography
She has received awards such as a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, Women's Studio Workshop Studio Residency Grant, and a YADDO fellowship.
Debora Dancy studied at Illinois Wesleyan University and Illinois State University. The field of work recorded is painting. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are abstract. Places of work recorded in the authority are Storrs-Mansfield. Employment is recorded with University of Connecticut. Work by Debora Dancy is recorded in the collections of Vanderbilt Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Birmingham Museum of Art, Hunter Museum of American Art and Detroit Institute of Arts. Distinctions recorded are Guggenheim Fellowship.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Deborah Dancy • Born — 1949 • Birthplace — Bessemer, Alabama • Known for — Painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, artist's books • Training — Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, Ill. - BFA (1973); Illinois State University, Normal, Ill. - MS in Printmaking (1976), MFA in Painting (1979) • Movement — Contemporary art, abstract art • Awards — 1985 - YADDO Fellowship 1997 - John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship
Early life and education
Early life and education
Dancy was born in 1949 in Bessemer, Alabama. She was born into an African-American family who treasured their heritage and ancestry. Dancy received her BFA degree from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1973, as well as an MS in printmaking and MFA in painting from Illinois State University, in 1976 and 1979, respectively.
Career
Career
Her painting "Seed Travel" appeared in the Stamford Museum and Nature Center. Dancy taught painting at the University of Connecticut, Storrs for thirty-five years, before retiring in 2017. Dancy’s works are in the permanent collections of numerous galleries and academic institutions, some of which include the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Dancy was also nominated for a Connecticut Children's Book Award for Illustration for The Freedom Business as an illustrator and co-author. Dancy was the art director and the illustrator of The Freedom Business, a book by her friend Marilyn Nelson.
Public collections
• Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio • Baltimore Museum of Art • Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Ala. • Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, Iowa • Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, S.C. • Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. • Detroit Institute of Arts • Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa • Fine Art Museum, Bardo Arts Center, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, N.C. • Fine Arts Museum, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. • Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa • Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, Tenn. • Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Mo. • Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, Mass. • Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Ala. • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston • Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Penn. • Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind. • Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kans. • United States Embassy, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Awards and honors
• Women's Studio Workshop Studio Residency Grant • Banff Creative Residency Program Grant • University of Connecticut School of Fine Arts Outstanding Faculty Award • The University of Connecticut Chancellor’s Research Fellowship • American Antiquarian Society William Randolph Hearst Artist and Writers Creative Arts Fellowship • Nexus Press Artist Book Project Residency Award • Visual Studies Press Artist in Residency Award • Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Nominee • John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship • New England Foundation for the Arts Regional National Endowment for the Arts, Individual Artist Grant • Joan Mitchell Foundation Nominee • Juror's Merit Award, New American Talent: Laguna Gloria Museum • Connecticut Commission on the Arts Individual Artist Grant • Yale University Visiting Faculty Fellow • YADDO Fellowship • Connecticut Book Award Illustration Nominee - "The Freedom Business"
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Deborah Dancy, revision 1349958595 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Deborah Dancy. N'Namdi Contemporary Miami. 2016.
- 2.Sarah - Deborah Muirhead. Birmingham Museum of Art. July 13, 2022.
- 3.Untitled. Museum of Fine Arts Boston. December 23, 2018.
- 4.Mercer, Valerie J. Examining Identities. Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts. 86. 1. 66–87. 2012. 10.1086/DIA43492326.
- 5.Perosino, Bruno. Marking 35 Years: The Work of Deborah Dancy. benton.uconn.edu. The William Benton Museum of Art. July 18, 2017.
- 6.Raynor, Vivian. In Stamford Exhibit, Art Imitates Life. The New York Times. May 21, 1989.
- 7.Lindsay, Nina. The Freedom Business. School Library Journal. 54. 10. 173. October 2008.
- 8.A Conversation with Marilyn Nelson. Image. 69.
- 9.Document. Allen Memorial Art Museum.
- 10.DAC Collection Object Information: Nameless - Deborah Muirhead. Wesleyan University - Davison Art Center.
- 11.Document, 2002. Detroit Institute of Arts.
- 12.American Art. Fine Arts Gallery - Vanderbilt University - College of Arts and Sciences.
- 13.Welcome to the Spencer Collection. Spencer Museum of Art Dead link. January 2024.
- 14.Deborah Dancy. Women's Studio Workshop.
- 15.Present and Former Creative and Performing Artist and Writer Fellows. American Antiquarian Society. January 15, 2013.
- 16.Deborah Dancy. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
- 17.Clarellen - Digital Book Design and Publishing. www.clarellen.com.
- 18.Archived copy. art.uconn.edu.
- 19.Front Matter. African American Review. 30. 2. 161–164. 1996. 3042351.
- 20.Deborah Dancy. Artspace New Haven.
- 21.Morgan, Ann Lee. jstor. Art Journal. 54. 3. 102–107. 1995. 777610.
- 22.Mobilio, Albert. The Bookness of Not-Books. The Paris Review. 2017-06-22.
- 23.the freedom business.
- 24.Perosino, Bruno. Marking 35 Years: The Work of Deborah Dancy. benton.uconn.edu. The William Benton Museum of Art. 2017-07-18.
- 25.Heller, Jules. Connecticut Biennial. Routledge. December 19, 2013. 9781135638825.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 19
- Armstrong, Kathleen, et al. "Children's Literature Reviews: 2008 Poetry Notables". Language Arts, vol. 86, no. 6, 2009, pp. 468–472. JSTOR
- Clarellen - Digital Book Design and Publishing. www.clarellen.com.
- Danza, Emmie. "Deborah Dancy, Chasing the Light". Gallery Artist Deborah Dancy Reviewed on The Drawing Center Column, "Annotations", The Drawing Center, June 27, 2013
- Archived copy. art.uconn.edu.
- Front Matter. African American Review. 30. 2. 161–164. 1996. 3042351.
- Deborah Dancy. Artspace New Haven.
- Morgan, Ann Lee. jstor. Art Journal. 54. 3. 102–107. 1995. 777610.
- McNALLY, OWEN. “Painter Muirhead peers through a history, darkly". Courant.com, Hartford Courant, September 13, 2018
- Mercer, Valerie J., et al. "Examining Identities". Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, vol. 86, no. 1/4, 2012, pp. 66–87. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43492326.
- Mobilio, Albert. The Bookness of Not-Books. The Paris Review. 2017-06-22.
- the freedom business.
- Perosino, Bruno. Marking 35 Years: The Work of Deborah Dancy. benton.uconn.edu. The William Benton Museum of Art. 2017-07-18.
- Raynor, Vivian. "Spirit in the Wood/Paint". The New York Times, Sunday, February 26, 1989
- Raynor, Vivian, "Stamford Museum". The New York Times, Sunday: May 2, 1989
- Robert, Kiener. "In Works with a Visceral, Spontaneous Feel, Deborah Dancy Explores the Amorphous Zone between Abstraction and Representation". New England Home Magazine
- Robin Kahn. ROBIN KAHN, January 1, 1970.
- Rosoff, Patricia. “Small Vistas, The 10-Year Show at 100 Pearl". Hartford Advocate, July 15, 2004.
- Zimmer, William. "ART; A Glimpse of Contemporary Taste". The New York Times, February 25, 1996.
- Heller, Jules. Connecticut Biennial. Routledge. December 19, 2013. 9781135638825.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Prints
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