Ann is an art historian, disability studies scholar, and visual artist who specializes in painting and collage. She holds a PhD in art history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and currently serves as a Senior Lecturer for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She teaches classes on modern and contemporary art, disability studies, and gender studies. Her book, The Disabled Body in Contemporary Art, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2010. She has recently published her memoir, Re-Membering: Putting Mind and Body Back Together Following Traumatic Brain Injury.

​

Ann has been able to come back from setbacks that, for others, might have been debilitating. Ann was born a congenital amputee, but nevertheless has had a successful career, earning her PhD in Art History from University of North Carolina– Greensboro. In 2007, Ann was hit by a car and suffered a traumatic brain injury– causing significant short- and long-term memory loss. This would be difficult for anyone, let alone someone who had already had to learn to live with her disability. Despite the obvious difficulties, Ann learned to maintain a positive outlook, partially through her art. She is a phenomenal painter whose works celebrate the disabled body, and has turned to collage to express her non-linear sense of time after her brain injury. Ann’s story may seem unbelievable, but it is real. She is, on top of it all, an incredibly hard-working, energetic, and intellectually ambitious person.