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McCrary's art has appeared on book covers, as digital presentations, and exhibited in both group and solo exhibits. She served as an art teacher, working with students from pre-school to graduate students in both public and private schools. Her teaching experience includes extensive work with children & youth with disabilities. McCrary served as Artist-in-Residence for Learning through Education in the Arts (LEAP) (San Francisco, CA), Youth in Art and the Very Special Arts (Marin County, CA). Her students have won numerous awards in the National Scholastic Arts competitions, were selected to exhibit at the Tennessee Arts Commission Gallery (Nashville, TN), the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Opening Gala of the San Francisco Ballet. Dr. McCrary has taught studio courses, art history, art appreciation, art therapy and art education on undergraduate and graduate levels. She designed and chaired a new Art Education teacher preparation program at a small Women’s College. More recently, she served as Assistant Professor in fine arts and teacher education at the University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY) and Associate Professor of Teacher Education and chair of Professional Studies at St. Catharine College.

 

​In her work, McCrary often uses bold color combinations in depicting natural spaces. For example, in a recent solo exhibit, Sacred Places, McCrary juxtaposes images of what are commonly considered sacred sites with images of sacred places in the natural world. 

 

She values collaboration as an opportunity to learn from other artists and recently co-authored a book of poetry and painting with long-time poet Marilyn Fox. In The Sins of Sweet Mortality (Eastover Press, 2023) they explore the aesthetic intersections of poetry & painting. It is currently available from booksellers world-wide and from this website. 

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