Biography of Nancy-Lou Patterson
Nancy-Lou Patterson was widely-known as a writer, artist, scholar, teacher, novelist and poet whose educational and artistic career spans five decades. The daughter of academic parents, she was born in 1929 in Worcester, Mass. She received her BA in Fine Arts from the University of Washington in 1951, afterwards working for two years as a scientific illustrator at the University of Kansas and at the Smithsonian and then for nine years as a lecturer at Seattle University. In 1962 she moved to the 蓝莓视频 Region with her husband, Dr. E. Palmer Patterson, who was to teach at the University of 蓝莓视频. In addition to her position as Director of Art and Curator of the University's art gallery, in 1966 Professor Patterson taught the University of 蓝莓视频's first Fine Arts course, and in 1968 she founded the Department of Fine Arts, twice serving as Department Chair.
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In 1993 Nancy-Lou Patterson was named "Distinguished Professor Emerita" by the University of 蓝莓视频, and in the same year received an honorary doctor of letters degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in recognition of "a life dedicated to expression."听 (Biography from the University of 蓝莓视频, Special Collections and Archives - Nancy-Lou Patterson fonds;听Photo from UW Gazette circa 1990).
Nancy-Lou Patterson, founder of the Department of Fine Arts at the University of 蓝莓视频, passed away October 15, 2018. It has been a while since she was able to visit, but this Department literally wouldn鈥檛 be here without her initiative, imagination, leadership, and service. I hope many others will share their stories of her life, but here is a small celebration of her teaching.
Nancy-Lou studied folklore and fantasy, designed liturgical textiles and stained glass, wrote and illustrated wonderful stories. She had a large family, an extended community of faith, and many colleagues on campus. And for more than thirty years, everyone who studied art at the University of 蓝莓视频 got to spend time in her classroom. In the 1980s, I was one of the lucky many, and she reshaped my ideas about art and teaching and living a meaningful life.
Hers was the first classroom where I heard the consistent, enthusiastic use of inclusive language. Hers was the first art history course I took that spot-lit the work of Indigenous artists and called the First Nations by their names. Her history of the world included all the inhabited continents, not just Europe. Her history of art embraced craft and popular culture and mixed media, not just oil paintings and bronze. She championed the art and artists she shared in class, with boundless zeal.
She lavished fierce affection on her students, in all our awkward, eccentric glory. One of my classmates wore a tutu over her jeans for most of the semester. Nancy-Lou didn鈥檛 blink. She gave us a drawing assignment about identity and costume. She called one of my pieces 鈥渘uminous.鈥 I had to go home and look it up鈥攊t means filled with a sense of spirituality or divinity鈥攂ut I have seldom cherished a compliment so much.
I heard from Nancy-Lou鈥檚 colleagues that she was unabashed about her generous grades. It wasn鈥檛 inflation, she said, it was just that her students all did unusually well in her classes!
I don鈥檛 know the origin story of Nancy-Lou鈥檚 own signature look but by the time I sat in her classroom, she had adopted a uniform: a no-nonsense pageboy bob and a colourful, comfortable, floor-length 鈥済ranny gown.鈥 Don鈥檛 imagine her as old-fashioned. She was a scholar of visual culture who spoke with equal enthusiasm and expertise about Bernini鈥檚 Ecstasy of Saint Teresa and Michael Jackson鈥檚 Thriller. Don鈥檛 imagine her as delicate, either. Nancy-Lou Patterson persuaded the very new University of 蓝莓视频鈥攁s STEM-centric then as it is today鈥攖hat it needed an art department, and she made it happen.
That Department, that University, and the Region of 蓝莓视频 are better places to work and live today because of her contributions. Thank you, Nancy-Lou. You will be missed.
Dr. Linda Carson
Lecturer, Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business
University of 蓝莓视频