Pam Winegard is an encaustic artist and art educator.  Selected as a featured artist in the 3rd Ed. of “Embracing Encaustic” by Linda Womack (publishing date early 2013).  Pam was a Summer 2012 Affiliate Artist-In-Residence at the McColl Center for Visual Art. In addition, she received a fellowship and grant funded residency to attend a four-week residency Fall 2012 at the Vermont Studio Center.  Pam was recently selected to return as a 2013 VSC artist fellow. She currently teaches at Wingate University, has taught at Winthrop University and the Art Institute of Charlotte.  In Charlotte, she also teaches private workshops and works extensively in outreach projects with Title 1 schools working with disadvantage children and youths. Pam received her MFA in Art & Design from Winthrop University concentrating in painting and drawing, graduating in 2011 with highest academic honors. She has been in a number of international, national, and regional juried exhibitions and has been awarded several exhibit honors including Best of Show and First Place awards as well as published in a number of catalogs.  In 2010, Pam was awarded an Arts & Science Council (Mecklenburg County) Penland School of Crafts scholarship.  Cabarrus Arts Council awarded her a public art award for the city’s mural project “Windows of Cabarrus County”. In 2011, the SC National Guard recognized for her volunteer work on a large mural, in support of the Ft. Mill National Guard Armory.  She has been published in national magazines and has been a writer/contributor to International Encaustic Artist newsletter. Pam lives and maintains a studio in Matthews with her husband, two dogs, and three cats, with an occasional visit from one or more of their six children.

My body of work is focused on creating a visual conversation about community identity.  The imagery and materials reflect the ambiguity of time and place constructing an aesthetic expression about who we are. Wrapped within the confines of forms and motifs, each work is also layered around architectural structures.  These edifices serve as a metaphor emphasizing how we manipulate both the landscape and the people living in that environment.  I always create series. Each work belongs to the larger body of work yet stands on its own, often manifesting into personal and interactive narratives.  The anonymity of figures and places are intended to encourage viewers to connect their own experiences with the work weaving them into the story.  I attempt to forge new bridges and deeper connections to each other as well as our communities.  I liken it to a form of storytelling whose theme is motivated by confronting the changing political, social, and personal landscape and the inescapable impact is has.