John McNamara graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1971 with a BFA in painting and in 1977 with an MFA. In 1975, he began teaching painting at the Massachusetts College of Art and remained there until 1983.
John McNamara has been shown nationally and internationally and has been written about in Dialogue, Art News, Arts Magazine, Art in America, New Art Examiner, Art Forum, The Christian Science Monitor and Art Space among others. John received the distinguished Alumnus Award from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1986. He was the recipient of an AVA Fellowship in 1982 and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in 1981. His paintings are in the collections of the Tucson Museum of Art, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Smith College Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, NY, Honolulu Academy of Fine Art, Honolulu, HI, J. B. Speed Museum of Art, Louisville, KY, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester NH, List Visual Art Center, M. I. T., Cambridge, MA, the Boston Public Library, the De Cordova Museum and Sculpture Park (Lincoln, MA), the Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA, and the Davis Museum and Cultural Center (Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, among others.
McNamara came to the Art Practice Department at UC Berkeley in the fall of 1993. In 1994 he developed and implemented the course “Art 8, Introduction to Visual Thinking,” an entry-level course focusing on the investigation of art processes and conceptual strategies. “Resource,” a reference guide for new Cal students, named it one of the most student recommended classes to take within the University. As well as teaching various painting and drawing courses, John is also responsible for the mentoring of the Graduate Student Instructors within the department. This process takes place within the 301 Pedagogy Course. In the spring of 2005 he received “The Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship Of GSI’s” form the GSI Teaching and Resource Center.
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