Pasco-Hernando State College Volume XIII, Issue II Fall 2019 | Page 19

THE
ARTIST
P
HSC student Meclina Priestley is in love with color. From
the time she was a little girl, she knew she not only wanted
to become an artist but that she already was an artist.
“There was something inside of me that said I am an artist,” she
says while offering her youngest child the playdough she has
been asking about for several minutes. Meclina is not a traditional
student. She is 43 years old, a mother of three, and has already
worked in multiple fields. Regardless of her high level of success,
a degree in the arts still evaded her. “The arts have always been in
my life, but I wasn’t allowed to go to art school. My parents were
adamant about a traditional degree, so I studied business but was
very bored.” It was a few years ago when Meclina decided to go
back to school to enhance her already thriving art career, but this
time focusing on drafting and design. She chose Pasco-Hernando
State College for this degree and could not be happier with
her decision.
“I was pleasantly surprised at the level of engagement I was
offered to participate in the school from the friendly staff and
encouraging students to working with Professor Jack Plant, who is
a phenomenal professor and mentor. I felt like I belonged no matter
my age or stage in life,” Priestley says. Her goal is to become
an art director using the skills learned in the drafting and design
program and work with local artists. She wants to bridge the gap
between architects, city planners, and other artists to create a
symbiotic energy to ensure a visual element to cityscapes and
rural spaces.
Before joining the PHSC student body, Meclina was working in
real estate when the market crashed. She started a company
called Art on Wheels where she went to public schools and started
an after-school art program. This helped her feel like part of the
art community in a way that gives back to future artists. She has
exhibited at a show in Atlanta where visitors loved her work so
much that she began receiving calls from interior designers and
set designers. This led to jobs setting up art for TV shows and
even celebrities. “Art can take you to places you never thought you
wanted to go and never thought you could go.”
STUDENT
WITHIN
PROFILE
She is currently an artist in residence at the Renaissance Hotel
in Tampa. This is essentially her art gallery while she creates
relationships with other Marriott properties. She is also an Art
Fellow with the James Weldon Johnson Foundation. She has been
doing shows and events for that foundation in New York and the
Berkshires. While she enjoys all types of art it is micrography she
enjoys most. Micrography is the use of words to create art. “I am
a poet at heart. The power of the word has the ability to shift our
feelings from hatred to forgiveness and from hurt to love. If I can
ignite that in my art work, I feel I can be a conduit for that.”
Meclina is a shining example of someone who is combining what
she learned at PHSC and what she was already doing in her career
to amplify her abilities. “Art is one of those vehicles that not only
transports me to
new and exciting
adventures, but it
transports others
too.”
Meclina Priestley
will join her fellow
graduates for
commencement
in December,
surrounded by her
supportive family
and the faculty and
students she says
helped her achieve
this important goal.
Student Meclina Priestley working on her drafting
and design project in Prof. Jack Plant’s class.
FALL 2019
19