Merlee Harrison is an artist and the wife of the late William “Bill” Harrison, a co-founder of the University of Arkansas’s M.F.A. program. Although referred to pseudonymously, Merlee is the subject of her husband’s beloved short story “Eleven Beds” (2002), which traces the evolution of their relationship from teenage sweethearts to equally infatuated retirees. Working across several mediums, she often exhibits her work in galleries and markets around Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Gen Broyles (formerly Whitehead) is the widow of the late James T. “Jim” Whitehead, a co-founder of the M.F.A. program at the University of Arkansas. A longtime maternity nurse at Washington Regional Medical Center, Gen is a committed patron of the arts who supports a variety of artistic causes throughout Fayetteville. Alongside Merlee Harrison, she established the William N. Harrison and James T. Whitehead Founders Fellowship in Creative Writing in 2019, which provides financial support to M.F.A. candidates with a special interest in poetry and fiction.
#1: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Gen Broyles and Merlee Harrison at the Laurie Merlee Ceramics Studio; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Gen Broyles and Merlee Harrison at the Laurie Merlee Ceramics Studio; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Gen Broyles at the Laurie Merlee Ceramics Studio; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Merlee Harrison at the Laurie Merlee Ceramics Studio; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
