Saudi Arabia
Painting & teaching · Jeddah & AlUla · 2024
Contemporary American artist Erin McGee Ferrell worked in Saudi Arabia in 2024 through painting, teaching, and cultural exchange. Through the U.S. Department of State’s U.S. Speaker Program, she led an art workshop and demonstration in Jeddah and visited Effat University as a speaker.
In AlUla, she taught color theory to traditional artisans with Turquoise Mountain and painted on location among the region’s rock formations and architecture.
Painting outdoors in AlUla.
Painting in AlUla
Working on location brought the surrounding landscape directly into the paintings: red-brown cliffs, pale buildings, green washes, and the small figures moving through them.
Painting made in AlUla, Saudi Arabia.
U.S. Speaker Program · Jeddah
In 2024, Ferrell participated in the U.S. Department of State’s U.S. Speaker Program, working with the U.S. Consulate General in Jeddah on art workshops and demonstrations.
Her visit included Historic Jeddah and a speaking engagement at Effat University.
Outdoor painting demonstration in Jeddah.
Selected press
Arabian Magazine: Jeddah workshop feature (PDF)
February 20, 2024
Turquoise Mountain color theory in AlUla
In March 2024, Ferrell taught a color theory workshop for Saudi Arabian traditional artisans with Turquoise Mountain in AlUla.
The workshop photographs show participants developing and sharing circular color studies.
Workshop participants with their color studies, AlUla.
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