Fine Art Center Names Studio for Late Director

A studio in shall inherit a name that harkens the power and charisma of a woman who once walked its floors.

Executive director George Ann Bissett announced during on Friday (Sept. 23) that Studio F will be renamed The Nancy McIntyre Studio.

At the party, friends, family and loved ones remembered and appreciated the late executive director for whom the studio will be named. 

“She loved kids,” Melissa Miller Nece, a teacher at DFAC, said Friday. “That was a real passion for her. Maybe what she was also trying to do was to bring out the kid in all of the adults.”

McIntyre is credited with creating the and expanding the community arts program. She at age 61.

Todd Still, director of youth education, recalled her personality.

“She was a big person and very big-hearted, and she didn’t mince words. She was very straightforward,” Still said. “She always looked at things with a childlike wonder and used her imagination.”

Catherine Bergmann, curator and director of adult education, said that she was an artist when she met McIntyre.

“I was pregnant with my daughter and she said, ‘When you have your child come and work with us and you can bring your daughter to work,’” Bergmann said. “I am definitely one of the seeds that she planted. She was such an ally and supporter.”

Her husband David Shankweiler cut to the core of her genuine nature:

“There were a few times for very special occasions that I wrote speeches for her,” Shankweiler said. “It was an absolute disaster. She would get about half way through one, toss it aside and start being Nancy again. ... No matter what happens to me from now until the day I am gone, the 28 years I spent with her have made my life rich beyond words."