MARY JANE WARD (b. 1983 Eugene, OR) currently resides in Columbus, Ohio. Mary Jane had a nine year career as a professional dancer, dancing for classical ballet companies as well as small modern companies, individual choreographers and interdisciplinary projects, across the United States and in Quebec, Canada. Mary Jane studied drawing and painting on scholarship at the Grand Central Atelier in New York City, under Jacob Collins from 2012-2015. She was a Hudson River Fellow in 2015. In 2017 she was one of three artists in residence at the Highlands Nature Sanctuary, in Bainbridge, Ohio. Mary Jane teaches portrait, figure, and studio landscape, and plein air landscape painting classes at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center in Columbus, Ohio. She is the recipient of several Artists in the Community grants from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, and serves as a Trustee for the Ohio Plein Air Society. Mary Jane’s work has been shown at Eleventh Street Arts in New York City, The Columbus Cultural Arts Center, The Columbus Museum of Art, The Riffe Gallery (Columbus, OH), The Springfield Museum of Art (Springfield, OH), The Southern Ohio Museum (Portsmouth, OH), and Keny Galleries (Columbus, OH). She is represented by Keny Galleries.