GREENVILLE — Tamera McNulty spent her life preparing for her role as director of the Anna Bier Gallery, though she didn’t realize it at the time.
“This job captured all the experience I’ve had in my life,” McNulty said, referring to the journey that brought her from Greenville, where she was born and raised, to Phoenix and Chicago, and finally back to Greenville again to raise a family and become director of the gallery.
McNulty earned a certificate from the Kettering School of Advertising Art in 1991, then worked as a creative artist at Neff, Inc. in Greenville, designing plaques for awards and t-shirts and other apparel based on sports team mascots. She then moved to Tempe, Arizona to attend the College of Architecture and Design at Arizona State University, where she met her husband. Along the way she interned with a famous artist in New York.
Later McNulty moved to Chicago with her husband, where she did freelance work as an artist and worked as an executive assistant at a construction firm.
“School taught me art, and the executive assistant job taught me everything else,” said McNulty. “I learned marketing, I learned event planning.” These skills would go on to be pivotal in her role as gallery director.
McNulty and her husband, a Chicago native, returned to Greenville nine years ago, while preparing to have their first child.
“My whole family is in town,” McNulty said, “and being a new mother, I felt a need to be with my family.”
McNulty went on to explain why returning to the small town atmosphere of Greenville appealed to her after living in major cities for several years.
“It’s like that game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,” said McNulty. “In a small town, you know everybody somehow, and that feels very safe.”
Now, after nearly a decade of stay-at-home motherhood and occasional freelance work, McNulty is excited to tackle her duties as director of the Anna Bier gallery.
“Marcia Weidner did a great job,” McNulty said, referring to the gallery’s previous director. “And I want to continue doing the great work she was doing, and also take it a step further by elevating the exposure.”
McNulty’s plans for the gallery include running a workshop series, beginning in September, with each month featuring a new instructor, working in a new medium. Workshops will be targeted at Greenville residents of all ages, including kids, adults, and teens. She also plans to host the gallery’s first exhibition of elementary school art in the spring.
“I have a passion for bringing young artists into the fold,” said McNulty. According to McNulty, it’s important for young artists to learn the ropes of having an exhibition, and eventually, hopefully, being able to sell their art.
McNulty also plans to search for visual artists whose skills complement the various performing artists brought to the county by the Darke County Center for the Arts throughout the year.
“You get to kill two birds with one stone,” said McNulty. “You get all these people coming in for this amazing show, and you get to meet an awesome artist who’s presenting right there.”
McNulty began her duties as director of the Anna Bier gallery July 1.
