Dorothy J. Coleman          

There's a great spirit here at the Academy that I'm sure all of you who have been involved have felt. The spirit is the great leveler, because it makes us all equal in one big family. We are a mixed bag of students--young and old, beginners and advanced, rich and poor, social and unsocial, professional and amateur. We have one common interest -- the love of fine arts. The Academy is another world where human classifications are left at the doorstep and the beauty of camaraderie prevails within its walls.

- Dorothy J. Coleman, President

Dorothy J. Coleman's life-long love of art led beyond her patronage in 1980 to become the president of the Academy. She was described as an "arts visionary" when she received the New Orleans Arts Council Mayor's Arts Award for her contribution. She was a member of the Newcomb Art School class of 1941, and is an accomplished artist. As a longtime patron of the arts in New Orleans, Dotty has been recognized with many awards for her continuing support of the arts in the city: the SweetArt Award from the Contemporary Arts Center, Role Model for the Arts by the Young Leadership Council, and the "Good Egg" award from the friends of City Park for her work in the renovation of the Popp Fountain. Mrs. Coleman also serves on two Advisory Boards for the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Roger Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the Dean's Advisory Council at Newcomb College, Tulane University.

 

Celebration, 1988

 

 

Li River, Quilin, China, 1987