Jean Niles Travels, Volunteers, and Paints

New Anderson Artists Guild member Jean Niles studied at the Chester County School of Nursing and Westchester State University in Pennsylvania. She worked as a nurse at University Hospital for four years in Syracuse, New York, before retiring to raise her family.

Eager to escape the harsh winters, she and her husband picked Anderson on a map and have lived here happily since 1972. Niles immersed herself in the community as a volunteer. She helped the American Cancer Society set up a free cancer screening clinic. She served as a Guardian ad Litem, going to court for abused children. She was on the board for GAMAC, worked with the Anderson County Museum, and has been very involved at St. John’s United Methodist Church. “Volunteering used to be my profession,” she said.

She is also a world traveler. She and her husband have been many places on small ships, river cruises, and small tours. One especially memorable destination was Russia in 1992. “They had just taken down the statues of Stalin and the KGB head; they were all lying in a park,” she said. She remembers watching the sun rise over Victoria Falls, Zambia, at Easter; riding the Rovos Rail, an old Edwardian train, for three days in South Africa; and much more in China, Greece, Israel, Norway, Iceland, Kenya, and Tanzania. Her favorite place is Italy. “It’s just beautiful, the light, the food,” she said.

She used to lug her Nikon camera everywhere but now uses a cell phone for photography.

And during COVID she started painting again, trying to conquer what frustrated her before: mixing colors.