‘On The Same Page: A Father & Daughter's Artistic Journey’ featuring Michael Shane Neal and Mattie Ree Neal

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Lipscomb University

Michael Shane Neal and his daughter, Mattie Ree, painting together in his studio.

Lipscomb University is hosting a unique exhibit this spring that will allow the Nashville community the opportunity to view the work of internationally acclaimed portrait artist and Lipscomb Fine Arts Ambassador Michael Shane Neal alongside that of his daughter, Mattie Ree Neal, artist-in-residence at Lipscomb, in a special father-daughter exhibition.

On The Same Page: A Father & Daughter's Artistic Journey will feature works from Neal’s 30-year career as well as those of daughter, Mattie Ree, and will showcase the creative connection, shared inspiration and distinct artistic voices that have shaped their journeys as artists. A public opening and gallery talk will take place on Tuesday, March 24 from 5–6:30 p.m. in the John C. Hutcheson Art Gallery in Lipscomb University's Beaman Library. The event and exhibit are free and open to the public. All are invited to attend. The exhibit will run from March 19-April 19 in the Hutcheson Gallery and is open to the public during library hours: Monday through Thursday, from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday at 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

A 1991 Lipscomb graduate, Michael Shane Neal’s portfolio includes more than 600 commissioned portraits that are on display around the world. His public, private and institutional portraits include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, seven U.S. Presidential Cabinet members, former President George H.W. Bush, Scotland’s Sir Malcolm Colquhoun, four former U.S. Ambassadors to France, seven U.S. Senators including Majority Leaders Robert C. Byrd and Bill Frist, more than a dozen federal judges including Chief Judge Anthony Scirica, actors such as Morgan Freeman and Jimmy Fallon, numerous heads of universities and four governors. His portraits of Congressman John Lewis and famed civil rights attorney Fred Gray were acquired by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Neal has studios in Nashville and in the historic the National Arts Club in Gramercy Park, just off Park Avenue in Manhattan, which was formerly occupied by his mentor, the late Everett Raymond Kinstler. He has received numerous awards and accolades for his work, including the Lotos Award of Distinction for the Arts and the Grand Prize Award from the Portrait Society of America. Neal is the chairman of the board of the Portrait Society of America. He also serves on the board of directors of the Norman Rockwell Museum’s National Council and the Andrew Jackson Foundation. He previously served on the board of the American Patrons for the National Library and Galleries of Scotland (APNLGS) and the Executive Board of Trustees for Cheekwood Museum of Art. He is a member of the Allied Artists of New York, the Artist Fellowship of New York, the Salmagundi Club of New York, the Lotos Club of New York, the Century Association of New York, the Players Club of New York, the Sloane Club of London, and an Exhibiting Artist member of the National Arts Club in New York, among others.

Mattie Ree Neal, a 2020 graduate of Lipscomb Academy, has pursued a career as a professional artist with a deep commitment to traditional, representational painting. She has studied with some of today’s most prominent portrait painters, sculptors and fine artists, training in studios and workshops around the world. Mattie Ree has been a guest teacher in several classes in Lipscomb University's Department of Visual Arts and has led a painting workshop through Lipscomb's Lifelong Learning program.