Susan N. McCollough, a Gulf Shores-based abstract expressionist, has donated a 9-foot-by-8-foot triptych painting, "Gulf Ever-Changing," to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. The painting was unveiled Feb. 16.
"We appreciate Susan's generosity in gifting this painting, which will give visitors to the Shelby Center an inviting reflection of the living waters surrounding our campus," said Dr. John Valentine, executive director.
Born in The Bronx, N.Y., McCollough grew up in Dothan, Ala., and graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in speech and art. She works out of The Susan N. McCollough Gallery/Studio in Gulf Shores next to The McCollough Institute, her husband Gaylon's plastic surgery practice.
"The painting represents for me the serene, calm, tumultuous expression of the waves," McCollough said. "It's a combination of science and art, and I feel very fortunate to have been able to present this painting to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab."
McCollough paints primarily on large canvases, sometimes working on three or four paintings at once. This is the sixth painting she has donated to various organizations.
She was commissioned by the University of Alabama to create a painting in honor of her late professor and lifelong mentor, Al Sella. The 4-foot-by-5-foot impressionist portrait of the iconic artist and his emblematic bicycle hangs in Clark Hall in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Last year, the McColloughs donated $5 million to the College of Arts and Sciences - the largest academic endowment in more than two decades - to establish the Dr. E. Gaylon McCollough Institute for Pre-Medical Studies and the Susan N. McCollough Art Biennale.
For more information about McCollough's work, visit www.susanmccolloughart.media.