PRESS

New American Paintings

McGinnis’s works have a poignant emotional sensibility. She renders the ships with empathy, surrounding them with wreaths of stormy clouds and dramatic lighting. Delicately-painted flowers and ornaments, brass nails and gold leaf encircle the ships as if they were posthumous tributes. The gigantic vessels become metaphors for broken dreams and ideals of the past.  
Nastia Voynovskaya – Hi-Fructose

…her art and technique have gelled. She’s found her voice and a painstaking process that yields solid results – on view in her new exhibit opening at Packer Schopf. I’m proud of her. She’s stuck with it and segued into a genuine talent.
Paul Klein’s Artletter 2/2011

“These paintings are so well – executed that we have to admire McGinnis’ commitment to both ideas and technique, a breath of fresh air in an art world that is long on conceptual whimsy and short on craft.”
Margaret Hawkins – Chicago Sun Times (view article)

“McGinnis says she aims to help us ‘gain self knowledge” through her paintings, “so we can better protect ourselves and our planet.’”
Kanchan Limaye – American Arts Quarterly

Her style might put off  the average suburbanite, but its edginess is pure pleasure to the erudite.”
Karen Schafer– The Washington Gazette  (view article)

“If she says that that’s fine. If she wants to do that that’s swell.  She should do what she wants… She’s going to become some kind of   heroine  I’ll tell you that.”
Leon Golub – Tony Serabia’s Interview WBEZ. Chicago Public Radio (listen to the interview)

“McGinnis’ project received a big boost when artist Ed Paschke got on board. Paschke says he agreed to serve as a juror for entries because he considered it ‘a very ambitious undertaking.’ For me it begs the question that’s always on a lot of artists’ minds, which is, ‘Does art have the capacity to change society or is it just preaching to the choir?’”
Lisa Stein – Chicago Tribune (view article)