DAN McCLEARY (Suggested for Stage Six; Mastery)
Dan McCleary is a Los Angeles-based figurative and still-life painter. Formal education wasn’t for him, leaving art school after one semester. Instead, he developed his artistic abilities through serendipitous connections with accomplished painters willing to share their expertise. He has shown and sold his work ever since. There’s been a simplicity to his career which he’s carried over into his other passion — serving the under-served. In 2009 he founded Art Division, a non-profit organization in the low-income community where he’s lived and worked for decades. Art Division is dedicated to training and supporting under-served youth, ages 18- 30, who are committed to studying the visual arts — all at no cost. At some point, Dan says, it’s just time to pass down what you know to those in need, just as others have done for him. Listen as Dan shares his humble and practical perspective on life and art.