BJ Beck

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Growing up, I had this fantasy that I was an artist, but the demands of a more scientific education, and then the day jobs, interfered with my pursuit of this calling. Originally from the Midwest, I earned a BA from the University of Illinois. Following a brief stint in Colorado and several years in the Boston area, I earned an MS in nursing from Pace University/New York Medical College, and spent seven years in Augusta, Maine as a family nurse practitioner. I left Maine in 1985 to take premedical courses at the University of New Hampshire. In 1987, I left for the University of Vermont and earned my degree from the College of Medicine in 1991. After internship in internal medicine in San Francisco, I completed a residency in psychiatry and fellowship in psychosomatic medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. My first art class was in 2000, followed by a studio course under the mentorship of Kippi Fleischer, at the Curling Vine Studio in Merrimac, MA. When the day job threatened to further limit time for art, I took bolder measures; attending summer plein air workshops, I developed an observational portfolio and applied to Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt), where I received my BFA in painting in 2016, and an MFA in May, 2018.