Amanda Dunbar paints a Precious Rebels guitar.
Amanda Dunbar’s pretty paintings caught the eye of collectors when she was still in her teens. Now musicians like Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger bring down the house with her dazzling, crystal-encrusted guitars.
Hand-painted and emblazoned with thousands of Swarovski crystals, each instrument is a fully functional work of art. They’ve been touted in the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book and exhibited at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
Dunbar is best known for her wide range of abstract, figurative and conceptual paintings that hang in private, public and corporate collections around the world. Her Precious Rebels guitars, which she began creating in 2007, “bridge the gap between art and the world,” says Dunbar, who earned a B.F.A. in art history, cum laude with departmental distinction, from Meadows School of the Arts in 2004. “People connect to popular culture, and I want to have that kind connection with people.”
When she entered SMU, the striking redhead was already an arts scene sensation; she was also a serious student. “I knew I didn’t know everything,” she says. “I felt it was important to be exposed to different opinions and ways to work.”
Among her favorite professors were Janice Bergman-Carton, chair of Art History – “she is amazing; I am humbled by her brilliance” – and Larry Scholder, whose printmaking inspired her – “he’s a great teacher and very supportive.”
Since graduating, Dunbar has studied in Brazil, Fiji, France and Italy. She also has continued to support numerous philanthropic causes, most of which focus on children. “I realized pretty quickly that I could use my art to help others, whether it was by donating to worthy causes or serving as a role model, inspiring young people to realize their full potential,” she says.
She acts as an ambassador to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and serves on the art advisory board of Children’s Medical Center in Dallas and Plano. She has worked with other organizations such as the World Craniofacial Foundation and the Crystal Charity Ball. Dunbar became the youngest woman and the first painter to be inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame in 2006.
In recognition of her artistic achievements and distinguished service, she received SMU’s 2009 Emerging Leader Award in November. The award is the highest honor the University bestows on its alumni who have graduated within the last 15 years.
“If there’s anything I have learned, it’s that you can have a loose plan, but you really can’t predict the future,” she says. “You have to be flexible and always have a sense of humor, especially about yourself.”
– Patricia Ward