Cheryl Maney
Artist, Freelance Arts Education Consultant, and retired art teacher from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Education: Bachelor of Creative Arts and Arts Education Teaching Certificate, UNC Charlotte (1990)
Masters in Art Education, East Carolina University (2004)
Curriculum and Supervision Certificate, UNC Charlotte (2007)
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
Cheryl Maney retired from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools after teaching art for 17 years and serving as the district curriculum specialist/program supervisor for Visual Arts, Media Arts, and Dance Education for 16 years. Cheryl is now back in the studio making sculptural books and taking photographs.
During her distinguished career in the school system, Cheryl participated in numerous important projects that strengthened and expanded arts education for local students. Highlights include serving as a writer on the National Visual Arts Standards and the lead writer for the North Carolina Visual Arts Standards, creating the media arts program for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and increasing the number of dance programs from 15 schools to 45. She was also in charge of running the Mid-Carolina Region of the Scholastics Art and Writing Awards Program.
Cheryl worked on several public community art projects, including partnering with a local artist, teachers and students to create a mural for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Courthouse and working with teachers to create and install a mobile in the NC Department of Education building in Raleigh. She also had opportunities to reach far beyond North Carolina, traveling to Guatemala as a World Affairs Council Scholar to collaborate with village schools and local artists and to Cuba with the National Art Education Association to understand the variety of arts education offered in the country.
In 2020, Cheryl received the College of Arts + Architecture Distinguished Alumni Award for Art & Art History. She did not, however, start her journey at UNC Charlotte in the Department of Art & Art History. She enrolled and spent her first two years at the university in the School of Architecture. She would soon change career paths and enroll in the art education program in 1986, which led her to the amazing career she has today.
She said one of the most beneficial aspects of the art education program was her work with the National Art Education Association.
“Our art education professor, Dr. Esther Paige Hill, required us to join the NAEA. Each year, we received a grant from UNC Charlotte to attend and conduct workshops at the national convention. Access to learn from and collaborate with colleagues across the nation was invaluable for my career. It set the foundation for active involvement throughout my life. I am proud to have held two positions on the national board: Supervision and Administration Division Director and Southeastern Vice-President.”
Cheryl also said that many of her favorite memories took place in the Rowe Arts building. “When I was in the architecture program my first two years at UNC Charlotte, I often would escape to Rowe to sit in the staircase overlooking the courtyard. Later as an art education major, I spent many late nights in the painting studio or darkroom. Recently I visited the building again and could still feel the creative, open, comforting spirit.”
Her advice for current students: “Life is a journey. Take time to experience the momentous moments and be open to change along the way.”
Cheryl is exhibiting work in the Generations: 60 Years – 21 Conversations exhibition for the 60th anniversary of the Department of Art & Art History.