Ward Mann was born in Detroit, Michigan. He was introduced to drawing and painting at the Detroit Institute of Art. Encouraged by his parents and teachers, at age twelve he had work accepted in an open exhibition of the Scarab Club in Detroit.
During World War II, Mann volunteered and served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps. After service, he earned his engineering degree from the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering. He then had a productive career as an engineer, and raised three sons.
Mann’s childhood interest in art lingered, however, and in 1963, after relocating to Webster, New York, he made a career change. As a primarily self-taught artist, he began achieving recognition in major exhibitions and by various art organizations. In 1974 he joined the historic Rocky Neck Art Colony and opened the Ward
Mann Gallery on the Pier in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Renowned for his marine paintings, he traveled and painted extensively in Europe, Greece, Norway, South America, and throughout the United States.
Information provided by the Blue Hill Bay Gallery, Blue Hill, Maine
