Jo-Anna J Moore

Portland - On August 20, 2025, Jo-Anna (Johnson) Moore died peacefully at her home in Portland with her loving husband, Michael, at her side. On August 26, Michael and Jo-Anna would have celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary.

Jo-Anna Mary Johnson was born on September 2, 1942, in Philadelphia, PA, to parents J. George and Anne Johnson. She was the second eldest of four children. Her father George, was a performing pianist and composer, and her mother, Anne, was a lyricist who collaborated with her husband. Growing up in an artistic home established a foundation of deep creativity that became the devotion of her long and successful career as an artist, educator, and arts advocate.

Jo-Anna attended Girls High (class of 1960), a public school in Philadelphia where she received early recognition as an artist. Her art teacher at Girls High became a lifelong friend and mentor. An exceptional painter, she went on to receive a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from Syracuse University in 1964, where she met and married her husband Michael, also an artist, in 1961. Following two years in Seattle, WA, while Michael was in graduate school, in 1967 they arrived in Maine where they raised their two children in Gorham and Portland, launching distinguished and unfailingly committed careers in the arts and education.

In 1968, Jo-Anna founded the Gorham Co-Operative Pre-School, still thriving today. At home, Jo-Anna was a talented cook, baker, and gardener, taking special pride in keeping family recipes alive, such as her mother’s depression-era Raisin Spice Cake. Through the 1970s, Jo-Anna taught art at The Waynflete School in Portland, and then, in the 1980s, art education at the University of Southern Maine. Throughout this time, she continued her own education, receiving a Master’s in Art Education from the Massachusetts College of Art, and her PhD from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education in 1991. Jo-Anna supervised art teachers across Maine, unwavering in her belief that every school should include art, and every student deserves a great art teacher. She was a leading force in the development of the Maine Arts Education Association. While always keeping a home and deep connections in Maine, in 1991, she and Michael returned to her home town of Philadelphia where, from 1991-2014, she taught, led, and mentored students as the Director of the Art Education at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. As Professor Emeritus she completed the first complete history of the founding of the Tyler School and continued to advise and mentor students and colleagues.

Throughout her career she was generous with her counsel and time, coordinating workshops, advising teachers, leading as an administrator, but never was she more delighted than when she engaged directly with children making art. To her, this was the heart of her work to which she was devoted. She served on numerous boards including The Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine, The Kennedy Center for the Arts in Washington, DC, and the William Penn Foundation in Philadelphia. In retirement, Jo-Anna and Michael together continued to be exceptionally active arts supporters, and were on a first name basis with a majority of Philadelphia’s box-office managers, concert presenters, museum curators, and gallery owners. Throughout her life, Jo-Anna was committed to her spiritual practice and, with Michael, was an active member of several religious communities, including St. Peter’s Epicopal Church in Philadelphia, and Trinity Episcopal Church in Portland, ME.

Jo-Anna is survived by her husband Michael, their son Chris and his wife Melissa Hall, of Brunswick, ME their daughter Sarah Cox and her husband Russ Cox, of Portland, ME, a brother, Gerald Johnson and sister-in-law Diane Johnson, of Cape May Court House, NJ, five grandchildren, James and Lorna Moore and Eleanor, Grace and Ben Cox, sibling in-laws Terry and Ruth Moore of Falmouth, ME, and Marcia and Mike Johnston of Canandaigua, NY, and many nieces and nephews and others who have become like family over many years.

A memorial service and celebration of Jo-Anna’s life will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church 580 Forest Avenue in Portland, Maine on Saturday, September 27 at 1:00 p.m. A reception will follow.