Patricia “Pat” McGauly Hershey (1928-2022) was a respected artist especially with her work in watercolor, and her paintings have been shown in regional galleries and art shows in Alabama and around the South. For many years, she shared studio space with a group of women artists in Birmingham, Alabama.

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She was born Patricia McGauly in Birmingham, Alabama, grew up in Homewood, attended Phillips High School in Birmingham and Ward Belmont College in Nashville, Tennessee (now known as Belmont University), where she received her degree in Art. Her marriage to Richard Hershey lasted 57 years until his death 2011. She had four sons, and despite her focus on family, was able to manage a career and continue her own artwork.

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Pat Hershey worked at Southern Bell Telephone Company, and later with the U.S. Soil Conservation Service. She became the first woman in Alabama to participate in field surveying. Later, she worked for the Birmingham Regional Planning Commission as Senior Draftsman and Cartographer, in charge of the study and redrawing of area maps.

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Her earliest paintings were done in oils and acrylics, but she is best known for her work in watercolor, sometimes including pencil, pen and ink. Her favorite subjects were still lifes and landscapes, although there was great variety in her work and subject matter. Later in life, when injuries made painting large works difficult for her, she focused on smaller work, eventually pen and ink drawings. She often sent hand-painted or drawn greeting cards. Upon her death, the scope of her work became more evident, as paintings and drawings continue to be discovered among her belongings. In this regard, she is the Emily Dickinson of artists.