People / Contact Us
A’Dora Phillips, Director & Primary Author
Email: aphillips.visionandartproject@gmail.com
With a background in both writing and art, A’Dora guides the research, writing, and project development at The Vision & Art Project.
After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in English & Cultural Studies at Carnegie Mellon University, she traveled abroad extensively before moving to New York City. She worked as a professional writer and studied drawing, painting, and sculpture at the Art Students League and the Water Street Atelier. While continuing her art studies in Florence, Italy, at the Florence Academy of Art, she began writing for American Artist.
A graduate of the MFA Program for Poets and Writers at UMass Amherst, A’Dora is pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Cincinnati.
Previous work experiences have included teaching writing and drawing to at-risk youths in New York City; English as a Foreign Language in Prague and Greece; writing for the sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and creative writing at both the City University of Hong Kong’s low-residency MFA program and the University of Cincinnati.
Brian Schumacher, Creative Director & Co-Author
Email: bschumacher.visionandartproject@gmail.com
A multi-disciplinary designer, artist, and educator, Brian brings first-hand experience into the unique challenges faced by the artists we profile, as well as insight into their working methods and creative processes. As the creative director of the Vision and Art Project he is responsible for the visual narrative and graphic content of the website, and the substance and composition of the exhibitions, publications, and social media accounts.
In addition to his work at The Vision and Art Project, Brian maintains active affiliation with multiple academic institutions. Currently he holds appointments as lecturer and director of the Summer Design Academy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, as visiting faculty at Mount Holyoke College, and as adjunct faculty at the University of Cincinnati, College of DAAP. His research, teaching, and professional work center on the subject of perception and visual narrative, with an emphasis on the importance of understanding how and why we see what we do and how our perception shapes our relationship to the world around us.
He has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards, including a Vogelstein grant, a Stobart Foundation grant, the Mary Butler Trust Purchase Prize, the American Institute of Architecture Henry Adams award, and the Darwin T. Turner award for excellence in promoting diversity and inclusiveness in the classroom. His paintings and drawings are held in public and private collections across the United States and Europe, including the Forbes Foundation and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture, and over a decade of experience studying and teaching traditional drawing and painting in private ateliers in New York City, France, and Italy.