Ann O'Hanlon: A Brief History

     In search of another topic to blog about I thought of the activity we did in Friday's class and I thought the fresco in Memorial Hall might be a good topic to write about for my second installment on my blog. After browsing through a few sites, I found an article on the O'Hanlon Center for the Arts page that gave a brief description of the life and work of their creator, Ann O'Hanlon. The website did not name an author of the article but since the website is the official page for the Ann O'Hanlon Center for the Arts, I figured this would be as credible or more than any other source I might find.
    Ann O'Hanlon was born in Ashland, Kentucky in the year of 1908 and lived to be an astounding 90 years old, dying in 1998. Before her death, Ann lead an exciting, rewarding, and fruitful life. Through her art, Ann has inspired many and left a legacy that many can appreciate. As the oldest of five, Ann was responsible for helping her mother take care of her younger siblings while her mother tried to make extra money by selling baked goods. A little farther on down the road we get to Ann's collegiate years. She graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1932 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She continued to pursue her education at the California School of Fine Arts. It was here that Ann would go on to meet her husband, Dick O'Hanlon. Ironically, both Ann and Dick have left a lasting mark at their respective colleges by helping create frescos at them. Dick's can be found at the San Francisco Art Institute and Ann's (as you probably already know) can be found at the University of Kentucky. Ann's fresco depicts the history of Kentucky in a manner unlike other artists. She paints the whole picture by showing the good and bad sides of Kentucky's past. In 1936 Ann and Dick moved east to work in various places such as New York and Philadelphia. In 1942 Ann and Dick moved to California and bought a farm to work on their art. This same farm was eventually converted into the O'Hanlon Center for the Arts which can still be visited today.
     After reading this article, I'm left with a few questions about Ann's life. One, was Ann's father out of the picture as a child? The article only tells of the mother. Second, are there any other works of art by Ann at the University? I think it would be interesting to see if the University has collected any of her other works. This article will be able to help me develop an idea of what part of the campus I want to focus on for the shark tank project. Focusing on areas that have been touched or are related to Ann could only lead to a great amount of information.