Article by Julie Waechter, special to Adams State
The word “multi” applies to several aspects of Annaliesa Connor-Meissner ’14, now in her second year as chair of Adams State University’s Art Department.
“As chairperson of Art, Annaliesa brings years of experience to the position, both as a highly regarded educator and as an artist,” noted John Taylor, Ph.D., director of the School of Visual and Performing Arts and chair of the Theatre Department. “Moreover, she demonstrates a positive energy and collegiality that informs her vision for and interactions within the department.”
Originally from the twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in the Southern Caribbean, Connor-Meissner is multi-lingual, speaking English, Spanish, and French. Her training and approach to the arts are multi-disciplinary, including not only various visual arts media, but also music and theatre. And she herself is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural: her ancestry combines heritage that is Scottish, African, Spanish, and First Peoples from the Waraowitu Tribe, Trinidad and Tobago.
The first person of color to chair the Art Department, she said, “I can’t hate anybody, because I am everybody.” Her work revolves around the ocean and nature, especially butterflies and hummingbirds, which are plentiful in her country. The First Peoples call it “Iere” – “Land of the Hummingbird.”
“My work is about the human condition, the cycles of nature, life, aging, the experience we have within the cycle, inside of time,” she said.
Connor-Meissner earned her B.A. in art and graduated with First Class Honors (Summa Cum Laude) at the University of the West Indies in 2006. “Arts education is structured differently in the Caribbean. There was multi-disciplinary collaboration among the various arts, so the work has a fuller feel to it,” she explained. She then taught K-12 in all subjects and served as Head of Department (chair) of grades 3 and 4.
She came to the States and completed her M.A. in art from Adams in 2014, starting in sculpture and finally concentrating on ceramics. The high point of her graduate work was an unexpected opportunity to learn from Emeritus Professor of Art Cloyde Snook, for whom the Art Building’s primary gallery is named. “It was like an apprenticeship, just him and me for two weeks. He shared a wealth of information and techniques with me. He was very encouraging,” she said.
Adams State tapped her as an instructor the following semester, then she taught six years at the McClelland School in Pueblo, CO, where she was head (principal) of the Lower School. She returned to the Adams State faculty in 2021, teaching senior seminar, art education, ceramics, and art and creativity. Now Connor-Meissner is developing a cultural exchange trip for students to Trinidad and Tobago.
