IN MEMORIAM

'ADAMO' Joseph Domenic Adams

July 25, 1931 - April 8, 2008

About Adamo

Joseph Domenic Adamo was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1931. He earned his B. A. degree at Franklin and Marshall College, his M. Ed. At Shippensburg University, and his Ph. D. at Lehigh University. A “part-time” painter all his life, he edited, wrote, and taught to earn his living. He retired from teaching after 31 years to turn to full-time painting. Below is his summary of some of the highlights of his art career.

I began my art training while still a child. My father, an Italian immigrant, recognized my ability to draw and placed me with a group of Scandinavian artists who maintained a communal studio near our home. In turn each taught me his own particular way to compose and paint. None of them handled a painting in the same way. The instruction of one contradicted the instruction of another. Discouraged and confused by their lack of agreement, I asked my father whose teaching I should follow.

"Trees on the Hill Crest"
7" x 5", Oil on Panel. Private Collection

“Learn them all,” he told me. So I did. And since then, as I learned many more techniques, I came to realize that many roads lead to the top of the mountain. I feel fortunate to be able to select from a variety of approaches to address any painting subject, whether a landscape or flower, portrait or still life.

"Autumnal"
7" x 5", Oil on Board. Private Collection

My interests expanded as I continued to paint. Included in Who’s Who in American Art early on (1962), I have over the years maintained studios in California, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

In Pennsylvania I established and directed an art department for the Mercersburg Academy. I taught art history, aesthetics, and studio art. I pursued a Master’s degree, then completed my doctorate in American literature at Lehigh University and joined the faculty of Central Missouri State University.

In Missouri I maintained a flourishing studio and founded a local art society that blossomed into Mid-Missouri Artists, Inc., an art service organization that nurtures the region’s art needs. I also published articles on aesthetics (“Aesthetics Revisited: A Philosophy of Criticism,” Intellect) and art history (“The Hard Luck Artist of the Renaissance,” Faculty Distinguished Lecture Series, CMSU). While a member of the visual arts advisory committee for the Missouri State Council on the Arts, I also served as the first Midwest District Director for the Alliance for Arts Education. Grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts enabled me to investigate issues in both literature and the fine arts.

In Northern Virginia, under the pseudonym Joseph D. Adams, I wrote and edited scholarly monographs (English Studies Collections) and published a collection of poetry and fiction, titled Between Us, Between the Lines (1989). My paintings took top awards at Fairfax County Council of the Arts exhibits and were displayed in Washington, D.C., and Virginia galleries. Since moving to Painter on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, I have been exhibiting in the mid-Atlantic region, primarily in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. My paintings are in many public and private collections in North America, Europe, and Asia. I open my studio to the public and show my works at a number of galleries in the area.

"White Caps in the Mulch"
5" x 7", Oil on Board. Private Collection.