Ginger Manning - Artist 

I grew up aware that there had been artists in my family, before me, so it seemed natural to always have had access to art materials, and time to experiment.

​

My great-grandfather, John Menalis, was awarded a scholarship to Cooper Union in 1880 with his charcoal drawing (left) of the bust of Ariadne (1879). I include this information so that my relatives have it for when they are looking up their ancestry, or when they are wondering the origins of where their child may have received their proclivity toward the arts. Also, I include this work because it is so very awesome. Unfortunately, John passed away young, (age 29?), and there are not many of his works that remain.

John Menalis's daughter, my great-aunt, Helen Menalis, was an art teacher in New York City. My mother, Virginia Clancy, a graduate of Pratt Institute, was trained as an art teacher and as an accountant - arty, yet practical - such is my inheritance.

​

I was encouraged to experiment with art materials, papier mache, paints, fabric - to design/make my own clothes. I was encouraged to travel - and won a Rotary scholarship in high school to spend a year in Japan, where I studied, among other things, calligraphy and kimono making at a Japanese high school. In college, I spent a semester in Florence, Italy studying art appreciation, history and philosophy, and then another year in Japan.

​

After college, My first job was at Tokyo Broadcasting System, in midtown Manhattan, NYC. In the evenings, after work, I attended art classes, and my very kind boss, Mr. Yukio Sunahara, encouraged me by allowing me to hang my wet canvases on the walls of our classic office space in Rockefeller Plaza's iconic Associated Press Building.

After several classes at different venues, I found my teacher under whom I would study every Thursday night - the brilliant, wise and generous Hananiah Harari, at the Art Student League.