Bio

In post WW11 England before the age of television, everything seemed cold and unusually quiet, with the exception of an abundance of ongoing creativity at Joy Adams’ home. A very young Joy and her siblings constantly entertained themselves through drawing and painting on bits of found paper and self-made music on an old piano, a guitar, and a banjo which the whole family and extended family took part in on Sunday afternoons. Joy's Mum said she was often told by neighbors "There's always music coming out of your house."

In later years as young adults, Joy and one brother spent six years together in professional show business as a brother and sister pop music singing duo, a popular format at that time. In addition to several black and white television appearances, they recorded with Decca and Parlaphone records, (Yes vinyl records) at Abbey Rd with George Martin. This was before the age of The Beatles. Joy and Dave eventually made it into "Radio's Top Twenty" in the charts. Finally, Joy made the decision that it wasn't the life for her, so she made the difficult choice to leave the team.

Her decision to revisit a long-held childhood ambition to become a visual artist was made and as luck would have it, soon after, in the 1960's she became an immigrant from Great Britain to the United States of America.  She was a military wife, and a semi-hippy, following her husband wherever he was posted, including overseas. It was altogether an eye opening experience which cemented her decision again to become a painter. She took lessons and classes wherever she could, wherever the military sent them, including on the island of Okinawa where she was unable understand a word the instructor was saying!

As time passed, Joy and her family found a more secure home in the state of New York. During the 70's, she studied at R.I.T then enrolled and graduated with a BA Cum Laude from New York's Brockport State University.  In 1979, after a two-year absence from N.Y, she was awarded a scholarship from the Maryland Institute School of Graduate Painting in Baltimore. She received her MFA in 1981, where she studied under the painter Grace Hartigan and sculptor Salvatore Scarpitta.

Joy Adams became a tenured professor of art at Ithaca College, Ithaca N.Y. 1990. She retired from teaching in 2006 in order to follow her painting career more freely. She received the distinguished status of Emeritus Professor in 2007.

Adams’ current exhibition record includes many invitational and one person gallery exhibitions. Venues of significance are:

The New Museum NY, NY; Art In General NY, NY; The Alternative Museum, NY, NY; Gallery Tribeca NY, NY: Pleaides Gallery NY, NY; Munson Williams Proctor Institute, NY Purchase award; The Albright Knox museum, Buffalo, NY Invitational; The Everson Museum, Syracuse, NY; A one person at The NY State University at Oswego; The Roberson museum Binghamton; The Memorial Art Gallery Rochester, which includes participation in several juried exhibitions. In addition, an Invitational and lecture at the MAG's first Biennial exhibition. Her paintings have also received several awards of merit over time, and have been exhibited locally in commercial galleries, including the Axom gallery in Rochester.

Joy Adams’ paintings have found homes in numerous private and public collections.

(Stories my Gran'mum told me, by Meghan Cervantes)