By Faith Topolski, Staff Writer
Michael Jones-Kelley, lecturer of journalism and strategic communication, says he has spent one third of his life in an office. In that time, he has made it into a home-like space where he enjoys spending time and expressing who he is.
1) The most distinctive feature of his office is the color of paint he chose. The rich purple of the walls is his favorite color and helps make it his place.
Jones-Kelley didn’t want to be in an office all day that was an “institutionally painted” space.
“It has nothing to do with who I am,” he said.
2) Above his desk is a framed picture from a Captain Spock Heineken advertising campaign. The advertisement doesn’t really make sense to someone unfamiliar with it, but it was a gift from a student who knew Jones-Kelley loved the campaign and is a self-proclaimed “Star Trek nerd.”
3) Below the framed Captain Spock is a picture of his daughter paired with “a very, very sweet note.” His daughter is also aware that “her dad is a nerd,” which explains the Captain Picard figure on top of one of his bookcases that she gave him.
4) On the wall next to his desk is a Chinese painting on a scroll that his older son brought him from China. Having a piece of art in his office was very important since it is from his son and he thinks “it is very pretty.”
“I live in a nicely furnished house with an art collection and being in it makes me feel good,” Jones-Kelley said. “Well, I want my office to make me feel good, too.”
Besides getting art from his travelling businessman son, Jones-Kelley also gets grief from the fact that he has only travelled to 65 countries, as compared to his son’s 85. Seeing the world and all its sights has had a great impact on Jones-Kelley’s life, like the pyramids in Egypt and his favorite country, New Zealand.
5) Above his desk is a picture of him and President Jimmy Carter when Carter was a state senator for Georgia, where Jones-Kelley is from.
He had the opportunity to interview the former president when he was seeking higher office and even had drinks with him. “He was a super nice guy,” Jones-Kelley said. “Very honest man, very sincere man, a very good man.”
6) There is an illustration given to Jones-Kelley by famous editorial cartoonist, Clifford Baldowski, when he “celebrated 20 years of working with, and finally directing, the Georgia Press Association’s annual political satire, called The Cracker Crumble.”
He had started working with the association when he was an undergraduate and worked his way up to directing the event.
Jones-Kelley has lived an exciting, full life thus far and it shows in the pieces he has adorning his home away from home.
He strongly encourages travel, proudly sharing that his favorite city is London, and exploring the great wide world.
