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Ofelia Garcia, Art Professor and Former Dean, Receives Prestigious Award

Ofelia Garcia, professor of art, and former dean of the University’s College of the Arts and Communication has received a lifetime achievement award

Art Professor Receives Prestigious Award

Ofelia Garcia, professor of art, and former dean of the University’s College of the Arts and Communication, has received a lifetime achievement award from the Women’s Caucus for Art, an affiliate of the College Art Association. The award was presented at the New York Hilton, followed by a gala dinner at the American Folk Art Museum.

She received the award for her considerable accomplishments and contributions to the arts, women, and the community: “not content with stellar performance at her jobs, she has always served the broader community, most notably on boards, where her service demonstrates her sense of commitment and stewardship.” A citation of appreciation for service describes her as “embodying a spirit of inclusion and flexibility, beauty and grace, compassion and firmness, living a life of integrity apparent to all.”

Garcia earned a bachelor’s degree at Manhattanville College, a master of fine arts from Tufts University and was a Kent fellow at Duke University. She has been on the art faculty at Boston College, a critic at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, director of the Print Center in Philadelphia, and president of the Atlanta College of Art and of Rosemont College. Also a former president of the Women’s Caucus for Art, Garcia has served on numerous boards, including those of the College Art Association, the American Council on Education, and Haverford College; she was most recently board chair of the Jersey City Museum. Garcia now serves as vice chair of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, on the Hudson County Art Commission, and on the boards of the Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions and Catholics for Choice.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was first presented in 1979. Previous honorees have included Louise Nevelson, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Isabel Bishop.