Artist Showcase

Sherrie Ann [Long] Whitney was born in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 4, 1951.  I lived there with my parents and two sisters until I went away to university.  I attended Clark County School District schools, graduating from Las Vegas High School in 1969.  When I was in 7^th grade, my English and Social Studies teacher was Lois Bondley.  She and her husband, George, were very involved in restoring the Lost City Museum.  One Saturday they loaded their two pick up trucks with her students and we took a day long field trip out to the Valley of Fire and the Lost City Museum.  We hiked around in Mouse’s Tank, roamed through various other Valley of Fire cites and finished up at the museum looking at the pueblo dwellings that have been reconstructed at the museum.  It instilled in me a desire to visit the museum and learn more about the native history of this area.  While in junior high and high school I took as many art classes as I could as elective courses.  The ones that helped my most were Basic Design and Painting and Sculpturing I & II while at Las Vegas High School.

               Following high school graduation I attended 3 ½ years at Brigham Young University and one semester at BYU, Hawaii where I studied education with majors in Health Science and math with minors in biological science and history.  Later I earned my Master of Science degrees in Elementary Education and Secondary Education with an emphasis in administration.  Following graduation from BYU I taught for 4 ½ years at Home of the Good Shepherd in Las Vegas, 1 year at Provo Canyon School in Provo, Utah and 30 years at Moapa Valley High School.  Teaching in small schools I was blessed to be able to teach many subjects in both high school and 6^th grade.  The majority of my teaching was in high school math courses.

               When I was a young child, my parents would go to St George, Utah to visit my aunt and uncle there.  Uncle Ralph (Solon Ralph Huntsman) taught art and was the Department Chair at Dixie College.  He had a studio in his house where I would spend many hours looking at his paintings in all stages of creation.  I loved his paintings, the smell of paint and turpentine, and being able to spend hours looking at what he was currently doing.  That was my first motivation to participate in art classes and I started developing my own style.  Later, after I was in Moapa Valley teaching, I took many art classes and workshops that were offered in the community studying with Max Bunnell, Phyillis Carpenter, Heidi Leavitt and others that offered workshops.  I learned about watercolor, acrylic and oil painting and enjoy working in those mediums.  I also enjoy working with watercolor pencils and making stained glass mosaics on terra cotta pots and plates.  My other great love is playing the organ and being involved in community chorales and groups.  I have spent about 15 years helping accompany for Zephyr Singers and have also learned to play a tenor recorder and enjoy playing with the Zephyr Consort in Moapa Valley. 

               I believe that it is vitally important to keep working on the talents we have been given and developed.  Staying involved in painting, music, taking classes in art with various mediums keeps me active and keeps me learning new things throughout my life.  It is one of the greatest stress relievers in my life and helps feed my creative desires.