Northeast Chapter ConferenceSpeakers

Joan O'Beirne is an artist and educator. She received her MFA in photography from the University of
New Mexico in 1998. Since moving to Vermont in 2004 she has taught at Marlboro College, Keene State
College and currently teaches photography at Greenfield Community College. She served as chair of the
board at the Vermont Center for Photography. Her recent work has been shown throughout New England
including the Drury Gallery in Marlboro, VT, the Spheris Gallery in Hanover, NH, the Thorne Sagendorph
Gallery in Keene, NH and the Vermont Center for Photography.

Her interest in teaching photography at the Greenfield Jail began after taking an Inside-Out sociology
class where students from the community college studied with incarcerated students inside the jail. Soon
after she helped organize a Think Tank consisting of incarcerated men and former students. The group
has worked on numerous projects including an award winning series of "Letters from Inside" published in
the Hampshire Gazette, three exhibits of photography and poetry, workshops on theater, poetry and
restorative justice, to name a few. With the cooperation and support from the Franklin County Sheriff's
Office and GCC she offered a three credit Introduction to Photography class. The six week courses took
place in one room with no natural light.