Maria Hughes

About Maria Hughes

Maria Hughes, born in 1978 as the only daughter of Michael and Judy Tucci, now lives in Baldwyn, MS with her husband Hayden, son Ames, and daughter Townes. She graduated from Baldwyn High School then went on to earn an Associate’s Degree in Art from Northeast Community College. She attended USM, and finished her Bachelor’s of Art Education at Mississippi University for Women. With her degree, Maria joined Mississippi’s public school system as an art teacher. She currently teaches in the Booneville School District at R.H. Long Middle School and loves what she does! Watching her students grow in their discoveries and accomplishments in art has had a profound effect on her, and the excitement she has in her personal art. Maria says, “My mother, Judy Tucci, is an accomplished artist and growing up with an artist mother, I feel I have always searched for a way of personal expression”. I could never match my mother’s interpretation of her Southern experience, so I have, with honesty, tried to develop my Southern experience. This in the end leaves me walking in the other direction from her, but down the same old-field road. Along with the people that surround me every day, my visual environment plays a major role in my artwork. This state I live in holds everyday mystery and magic. The yellow ochre wash of late afternoons, the early morning, misty fog, and the ‘all day humidity’ are reoccurring themes that show up in my artwork.