15 Facts About Joanna Priestley

Joanna Priestley's films are in the collections of the Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Joanna Priestley was born in Portland, Oregon to Mae Irene and Arthur James Joanna Priestley.

Joanna Priestley grew up in a wooded area near the Willamette River with horses, dogs, a cat and a huge collection of comic books.

Joanna Priestley studied painting and animation at Rhode Island School of Design and received a BFA in Art from the University of California at Berkeley, graduating with honors.

Joanna Priestley made the first computer-animated film at Cal Arts, Jade Leaf, using the Cubicomp, early animation hardware that was purchased by Cal Arts in the fall of 1984.

In 1977, Joanna Priestley co-founded and co-directed Strictly Cinema in Bend, Oregon.

Joanna Priestley became the regional coordinator, editor of The Animator and coordinator of the Northwest Film and Video Festival at the Northwest Film Center at the Portland Art Museum from 1978 to 1983.

Joanna Priestley has received fellowships from Creative Capital, National Endowment for the Arts, American Film Institute, Fundacion Valparaiso, Millay Colony, Klondike Institute of Art and Culture and the Caldera Arts Foundation.

Joanna Priestley's influences include Hilma af Klint, Mary Ellen Bute, Jane Aaron, David Hockney, Evelyn Lambart, Norman McLaren, Jules Engel, Len Lye and Antoni Gaudi.

Joanna Priestley is an active proponent of animation as an art form and has worked throughout her career to improve the status and exposure of animation in academia, museums, galleries and the media worldwide.

Joanna Priestley has presented two papers at the Society for Animation Studies Conference, including "Creating a Healing Mythology: The Art of Faith Hubley" in 1992, which was published in the Spring 1994 issue of Animation Journal.

Joanna Priestley has been an active member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1992 and the Short Films and Feature Animation Executive Committee.

Joanna Priestley has served on the board of the Regional Arts and Culture Council and been a member of the Public Art Committee in Portland, Oregon.

Joanna Priestley's interests include hiking, medicinal herbalism and designing and producing performative events for Burning Man and All Hallows Eve.

Joanna Priestley is married to award winning animation director and production designer Paul Harrod.