Marianne Macina Hoffman

Marianne ‘Macina’ Hoffman, Artist

Marianne’s love of art began in nursery school. On the first day, when all the other children left early because they missed their mothers, Marianne stayed until the end of the school day.  She was content to fingerpaint and fingerpaint and fingerpaint.

  By the time she reached seventh grade, Marianne was on her way to becoming an artist.  She won summer scholarships to the Gulf Coast Art Center in Belleair, FL, where she learned to paint with oils.  She received a scholarship for three consecutive summers.  Her painting, Stormy Seas won the blue ribbon at the Pinellas County Fair.  She refused a $500 offer for this painting which she created with an Italian painting knife at the tender age of 13.  In tenth grade, Marianne won the Clearwater (FL) Bank’s contest to paint a picture of their new building.  As a high school senior, she was on the team of four who won first place in the national Opal (car) painting contest, landing Largo Senior High School with a scholarship for a needy student.

  While Marianne majored in journalism at the University of Florida (UF), she had a double minor: political science (required) and fine arts. She earned A’s in all her art classes.  Projects were graded by a panel of professors.  Her last quarter was spent studying black and white photography as an exchange student at the Polytechnic, University of London.  After graduating from UF, Marianne went on to earn a technical degree in graphic design from Massey College, now part of the Art Institute of Atlanta.

  Marianne’s first job was a graphic designer for Hensley Schmidt Engineers in Atlanta.  Later she worked as Creative Director for a small advertising agency in Atlanta, as Advertising Director for the Carlton Celebrity Room in Minneapolis, and later ran her own freelance business in the Twin Cities.

  Her art and journalism background served her well throughout her career. In her final job before retirement, she was responsible for employee benefits communications at Starbucks.  There she won national, regional and company awards for developing, designing and editing Starbucks’ employee benefits newspaper My Brew, the coffee company’s interactive employee savings website as well as other projects.

  Retired, Marianne now paints for pleasure and by commission.  She continues to sign her paintings with her maiden name ‘Macina’. Marianne’s paintings can be found in all corners of the country – from Hawaii to Florida. Contact email: mmhoffman13@yahoo.com