In 2003, Cecelia Joyce Price ('92 M.Ed., '17 Ph.D.) saw a painting show on TV and thought she could do that. Now Price has two careers.

A former teacher and principal at Duncanville ISD, she is a professor at Dallas College, El Centro campus. The Cedar Hill resident also runs Whispered Inspirations Art Studio and teaches art at Visual Expressions Creative Arts School and Gallery in Cedar Hill. Her first series of oil and acrylic prints raised money for the first school in Mpeasem Village in Ghana -- and that led her to visit the country last year, inspiring a new series of paintings, highlighting her identity as a descendant of slaves and of life in Ghana.

Price didn't have any training in art when she first began. She taught herself, watching quick videos after work, and later, she took classes at Visual Expressions. She soon wanted to find her own place in art -- and developed an interest in the influence of the arts on teaching and learning in schools, homes and communities.

"Today, my creations convey love as people express and receive it (teach and learn it) through families, communities, friendships, schools, faith and many other avenues," she says. "Knowing that my purpose for painting encompasses my identity as an educator makes knowing what and why I want to paint very natural."