Reneemcginnis.com/biography/ Renee McGinnis grew up on a farm in central Illinois and attended Illinois Wesleyan University, earning a BFA in 1984. She continued with graduate work in sociology and anthropology at the University of Chicago. Her work has been exhibited widely in Chicago and has also been shown in Germany, Australia, New York City, Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Md. Her curatorial debut occurred when she launched “The Chicago Solution Show 2003" with the late Ed Paschke as juror, then again in 2005 with Art Institute of Chicago Curator of contemporary Collections- James Rondeau. Awards include: * Honorable Mention, Artists of The Millennium, Rockford Art Museum, juror: James Yood 2000 * Best of Show, juror Ed Paschke, Animal Images 2002 *Best of Show, 13th Annual Women’s Works, Woodstock, IL 2000 *1st Place, International Platform Assoc. Wash. D.C. 1999 *Honorable Mention, jurors: Tom Blackman, Gelsy Verna, Jay Dandy. Hyde Park Art Center, Member’s Show 1998 *Honorable Mention, ARC Regional IV, juror Ann Sass, curator Whitney Museum, NY 1997 *National Emmy Award for Design in Television 1991. In 2002 she starred as herself in the Iranian-American film “American Burqa” screened at The Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, Illinois. In 2005 she studied under Patrick Betaudier, the Atelier Neo Medici master. She currently shows at Packer Schopf Gallery in Chicago. Please visit early.reneemcginnis.com for more information and a collection earlier works