 Residing in Paris for the last 15 years, he is a permanent recurring resident at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris , and an alumnus of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine.In a September 1996 "Dayton Daily News" article on Ealy Mays, "A Pure Painter", writer Kathy Whyde Jesse profiled the then 37-year-old local Daytonian and Fairview High School graduate who was a medical school student and a recipient of the "Camille Cosby Fellowship for American Artists of African Descent", on completion of his fellowship at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, while on a sabbatical from medical school in Mexico.Mays discussed, among other things, the influence of Maxfield Parrish on his work and his affection for legendary African-American artist Jacob Lawrence, who inspired him to apply to the Skowhegan program.