Winning Palette

A painting that began with bare tree limbs and winter weather evolved into a majestic mix of colors—and a prize for one student.

Alli McKee (Col ’09) used techniques learned in an Italian art class to bring complexities of color to her painting of Pavilion IX’s garden.

“My painting professor, Megan Marlatt, taught me to put every color out on my palette and to use each color in unexpected ways,” McKee says. “When you look at a scene in this way, red bricks become greens, purples, yellows and pinks.”

A double major in American studies and studio art with a minor in English, McKee was the winner of the UVA Alumni Association’s 2009 student art contest. McKee used funds from the Alumni Association’s Leslie Baltz Fellowship for her Italian art studies, as well as classes in London.

“Art has always been one of my passions,” says McKee, a Virginia Beach native. “As much as I love to make art, I also enjoy art education as a docent at the UVA Art Museum and as a student in the art history department. Sharing my love of art is one of the most rewarding experiences I have had at UVA.”