16 Apr Tracy McGarrity
Tracy is originally from Rocky Mount, VA, and moved to Conway in 1995 when her husband Joe began his Economics teaching career at UCA. She has a BA in Art History from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. She grew up with a love for nature and the visual arts and fulfilled many hours of studio art requirements for her major but didn’t discover her love for hand-building pottery until after graduating. She took 2 years of Ceramic hand-building classes in the 1990s, but then went on hiatus for 20 some years while raising her 2 daughters, taking classes off and on during that time.
After becoming the part time Operations Manager for Blackbird Academy of Arts in 2013, her involvement with local artists and art events increased. She volunteered with many Blackbird events but also with the annual Art, Pray, Love fundraiser at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. Even after moving to full time work at UCA, she found time to start playing in clay again, eventually forming the Conway Clay Collective in 2019 to gather other local potters to sell together at local markets. She also serves on the St. Peters Art Collective (SPARC). Currently Tracy’s day job is Office Manager for UCA’s Student Affairs VP Office, and she is planning to have more time to create art when she retires.
