Alumni Degree An Artist’s Success Story: Quiet ImpactJean Mooney Jellison is celebrating her 100th birthday this year. In her honor, her daughter Mary Jellison made a significant gift to MCAD’s youth programming that will continue Jean’s impact on countless others in the community. The newly established Jean M. Jellison Youth Scholarship Fund will pay it forward to students who are in need of financial assistance to pursue their passion. Jean’s heartfelt story began in 1939 at the age of 14. “I couldn’t believe I won!”, she said when she was awarded a merit scholarship to Minneapolis School of Art. It forever changed her life.By 1942, the world was fast sinking into WWII, and Jean and young women all over the United States were writing letters of encouragement to American GIs overseas. But, uniquely, Jean’s letters were adorned with popular “pin-up girls,” based upon the human-form construction techniques she honed at art school. “I hoped my art would help get those young men home,” she remembers.Jean Mooney Jellison, Pin Up Drawings, 1942At 22, Jean married Bud Jellison and, like most of her generation, devoted herself to being a wife and mother of five children. But her personal identity as an artist was already firmly established. Jean Mooney Jellison and Bud Jellison, 1947“Our family grew up in a creative, artistic environment,” attests her daughter Mary. “In the kitchen, we often ate our breakfast next to an easel with an oil painting in progress watching us. We sometimes dumped our bikes in the driveway because the garage had been transformed into a wood sculpture studio. Clay sculptures dried on the wooden picnic table out back. And the sofa? Often workspace for textile arts: knitted Japanese-style kimonos, extraordinary quilts, and always amazing knitted sweaters for all of us kids.” Jean Mooney Jellison, Mexican Boys with String, oil on canvas, 1980Today, Jean’s treasured wood murals, oil paintings, and sculptures are displayed in the homes of friends and family members. “I hope my work continues to bring people joy,” she smiles. When asked how she thinks of herself, Jean quickly responds, “As an artist. Always.”