Photo by Peg Gerrity.
Peg Gerrity ’86 holds plein air watercolor sketches of Glacier Bay she made in her
field notebook during a trip to Alaska in 2022.
By Katie Straub
Peg Gerrity painted Tlingit Elder George Dalton and his great-granddaughter sharing their culture with music and dance. Gerrity captured their movements through video and painted the image while an artist in residence with Huna Totem Corp. in 2023.
When Peg Gerrity graduated from in 1986 with a degree in painting, she was on her way to meeting her goal of becoming a certified medical iIllustrator. Decades later, a tourist trip back to Alaska would inspire what she now calls the most meaningful experience of her career.
As Gerrity entered her 60s, she felt the need to “loosen up” as an artist, exploring watercolor painting on her travels around the world.
“It’s funny how things unfold,” she said from her home in Texas during a Zoom interview in October 2024. “I visited Icy Strait Point, painting landscapes. Just in awe of the place.”
Icy Strait Point lies adjacent to the village of Hoonah on the northeast end of Southeast Alaska’s Chichagof Island. After Gerrity’s visit, members of the Hoonah community asked to use her artwork in some publications. “What I’d really love to do,” she told them, “is paint your Elders.”
From to medical illustration
Gerrity’s career has spanned decades, merging art and science through medical illustration. She produces highly detailed illustrations for medical professionals, educators and patients alike. She has visited operating rooms to sketch surgeries in real time. She has helped new parents of racially diverse backgrounds track their pregnancies on mobile apps by creating fetal development illustrations that look like them.
The medical illustration field is small. There are only a few hundred certified medical illustrators in the United States, but Gerrity knew this was a career path she wanted to pursue.
She had a background in biological sciences and a talent for drawing, but she also needed an art degree to be accepted into medical illustration school. Gerrity credits for helping her achieve her goal.
Drawn by Alaska’s wild beauty and an art program with professors who were focused on realism in a time when the trend in art was abstract, Gerrity arrived in Fairbanks in the 1980s. She found inspiration in professors like Bill Brody and Kes Woodward.
Peg Gerrity created this medical illustration of stem cell production in bone marrow. During her career as a certified medical illustrator, Gerrity created hundreds of such images for educational materials.
“Kes Woodward’s work was such an inspiration to me,” said Gerrity. “He had this ability to capture something so deeply connected to the land. I remember trying to paint the Alaska Range on those cold winter days — the sun would hover just over the horizon, casting such beautiful pinks across the sky. No photo could capture it — the colors were too fleeting, too alive.
“So, I would pull out my paints and try to work fast, before the cold made everything freeze — my paints, my fingers, everything. You had to be quick or the moment would slip away.”
Gerrity was inspired by her art professors, who were always painting outside, even in the cold. She said they used Bunson burners under their paints to keep them from freezing. “I didn’t have that luxury, but the rush of trying to capture that light — it was a kind of magic, even in the middle of winter.”
Brody taught Gerrity to see in a completely different way.
Peg Gerrity ’86, left, and Bill Brody, a former art professor, reconnect in 2016 in Fairbanks.
“In our drawing classes, Bill Brody would often sit in on the still life sessions, but instead of doing realistic studies to capture the fine details for medical illustration, he would create these interesting, attenuated figures. They were so modern and edgy. It was a completely different way of looking at the world.”
Brody’s unconventional perspective and guidance helped Gerrity build a portfolio that ultimately earned her a place at the highly competitive biomedical visualization program at the University of Illinois Chicago.
“Medical illustration is such a specialized field,” she said. “It was Bill’s guidance that helped me make the leap from fine art into this niche of commercial art. There are very few programs like it in the country, so I was incredibly fortunate to have that support.”
At UIC, Gerrity undertook rigorous anatomy courses alongside medical students, who only needed a 50% to pass. She and her fellow grad students had to achieve a B or better. Gerrity asked her professor why she had to get a higher grade than medical students to pass the class.
“My professor told me, ‘Because your drawings are what they will learn from.’ That really hit home,” said Gerrity. “It wasn’t just about accuracy; it was about creating something that could help save lives.”
Honoring Elders: the Tlingit Portrait Project
Peg Gerrity painted this portrait of Tlingit Elder Cynthia Kaze during Gerrity’s time as an artist in residence with the Huna Totem Corp. in 2023.
Fast forward a few decades, and Gerrity’s career has come full circle. She has lived in Chicago, Austin, Texas and 12 years abroad in Singapore, with occasional visits back to Alaska. While visiting Icy Strait Point near Hoonah in 2022, Gerrity posted several sketches of the area online. They caught the attention of the Huna Totem Corp., a major force behind the preservation of Tlingit culture in the region.
She was invited to serve as an artist in residence for the corporation’s 50th anniversary celebration. This connection evolved into a partnership with the Tlingit Elders Project. The mission was simple — documenting the faces and stories of Tlingit elders, some of whom are the last fluent speakers of their language. But Gerrity’s portraits are not just visual records — they are a bridge between generations. Her process involved hours of conversing, listening to stories, learning about family regalia and gaining insight into each Elder’s personal history.
“There’s an intimacy to creating a portrait,” said Gerrity. “You’re not just capturing their likeness, you’re capturing who they are — their dignity, their history.”
While Gerrity painted George Dalton, he began dancing, accompanied by traditional drumming, instead of posing for his portrait.
“I was frantically trying to capture it all in sketches, but I eventually had to pull out my phone to record him in action,” said Gerrity. “His great-granddaughter was watching, and it was such a beautiful connection between generations.”
The project also deepened Gerrity’s understanding of Tlingit cultural artifacts. Elders wear regalia made from sea otter fur, wolf hides and abalone — some pieces more than a hundred years old. She was initially intimidated by the idea of painting such intricate detail, but watercolor allowed her to focus on features like facial expressions to depict personalities.
“With my background in medical illustration, I am able to understand the structure underneath that gives people certain features, but the connection with the person, and really getting a likeness, you have to get the twinkle in the eye,” Gerrity said. “You’ve got the anatomy there, but you have to capture a likeness, and you’ve got to have that sparkle.”
Peg Gerrity, left, and Tlingit Elder Ernestine Hamlin Abel show the portraits Gerrity painted of Abel during Gerrity’s time as an artist in residence with the Huna Totem Corp. in 2023.
Another poignant moment occurred while painting Ernestine Hamlin Abel, whose regalia featured plants representing the four seasons. Abel spoke of how climate change was altering Alaska’s coastal weather, making the once-distinct seasons blur together.
“That conversation was a reminder of how art, culture and environmental issues are all interconnected,” said Gerrity. “Ernestine’s regalia wasn’t just beautiful — it was a symbol of how things are changing for her community.”
A lifelong journey of learning and connection
Gerrity’s artistic journey has taken her from the classrooms of and the operating rooms of Chicago to places like the plains of the African savanna and the rainforests of the Galapagos. Throughout it all, Gerrity has continued to sketch and paint, building a body of work that spans scientific illustration, portraiture and everything in between. No matter where her travels take her, Gerrity remains deeply connected to the place where her journey as an artist truly began.
“I’ve been back to a few times since I graduated, and I’m always so inspired by the community,” she said.
On one visit, she brought her daughter, who was born in Fairbanks, to the UA Museum of the North. Together, they admired works by Woodward, Brody and other artists who inspired Gerrity during her time as a student.
As she looks to the future, Gerrity is excited about continuing her work with underrepresented communities, using her art to make a difference. She wants to capture the dignity, beauty and stories of her subjects, all while staying true to the lessons she learned at .
“Stay curious and create something every day,” she said. “Whether it’s a sketch, a painting or something entirely different, keep your creativity flowing. It’s the key to a fulfilling life, and it’s what has kept me going all these years. Keep exploring — you never know where your path might lead.”
Peg Gerrity poses in front of Ross Castle in Killarney, Ireland, in April 2024. She holds her plein air painting of the castle in her watercolor sketchbook. Gerrity creates sketchbooks while traveling and learning about different cultures and ecosystems.
Katie Straub is alumni storytelling manager for the Alumni Relations office.