Connie SANDAGE was born to Weldon and Lois (WRIGHT) SANDAGE on May 30, 1942, in Mount Ayr, Iowa. Upon her parents' divorce, Connie spent most of her childhood and teen years with her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Clyde WRIGHT of Mount Ayr, being with her mother in Colorado during the summers. Her first formal training in art was when Connie attended Grace AIKEN'S fourth grade class in Colorado. Returning to school in Mount Ayr, Connie remained interested in art although there were no art teachers in the Mount Ayr school system at the time.

She graduated in 1960 and worked at two jobs while attending Drake University in Des Moines. She taught baton twirling at the YMCA on Saturdays and worked full-time at Look Magazine, where she was the only female employee out of 13 in her department. Connie received her BFA degree with a minor in commercial design and a double minor in English and advertising in 1964. Shortly after graduation, Connie married Jon Scott HENDRIX and the couple moved to Memphis, Tennessee.

Connie continued her art training under John SEYFRIED and later at the State Technical Institute. She taught in the Memphis School system and for the Continuing Education Department of the University of Memphis.

In the 1970's Connie was a pioneer, breaking the gender barrier in the field of advertising, rising from the position of artist to art director and ultimately as creative director for Ward Archer and Associates.

On February 14, 1979, Connie founded her own agency, Connie HENDRIX & Associates. She married Charles MANUS, an architectural illustrator in 1978.

Connie was deeply involved in the revamping of Memphis' downtown district, serving as president of the Memphis Downtown Neighborhood Association. During her tenure, the association established a river walk, changed tolley lines for better access, and in general revitalized downtown Memphis. She was awared the Downtown Leadership Award in 1989 and was on the board of directors for the Downtown YMCA. From 1990 to 1992, Connie was a member of the board of directors for the Center City Commission.

She served as president of the Memphis Advertising Federation from 1995 to 1996, and in 2001, received the Silver Medal, a lifetime achievement award, the highest, most prestigious honor given in the field of adverstising.

In 2004, Connie sold her agency to focus on her sculpting and painting. Connie and Charles moved to a new home on a mountainside in Marble, Colorado, where they have a full-sized studio and gallery. Connie also maintains a gallery in Memphis, Tennessee. She is represented by Perry Nicole Fine Arts Gallery in Memphis, and exhibits in the Redstone Art Center, Redstone, Colorado.

Connie has been in Who's Who in American Art, 1980; The World's Who's Who of Women, 1977; and, Women Artists in America II, 1975.

SOURCE: FETTY, Jack. Rings of Gold Pp. 31-36. Palindrome Pub. Co. Iowa. 2007.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, June of 2010