“Mary was a friend, colleague, and mentor for many, many years,” said Waldrop, who is fresh off a major solo exhibition at Appalachian State University’s Turchin Center. “It was through her instruction, love of art history, and interest in the figure that I developed an affinity for the female form and all of its meaning.”
Waldrop has dedicated the show to Echols because, “she exemplified a life of service for the higher good, was the most innate mother, artist, and nurturer, who, through her good works, laid the foundation for so many arts-related endeavors in the Staunton community and beyond.”
Waldrop’s talk will feature remembrances of her time at MBU, what it was like to live and participate in the New York City art scene of the early-1980s, working as a high school art teacher to make ends meet, showing her art up and down the East Coast, and becoming a full-time artist in 2012.