McManus studied figure drawing and welding in the early 1960s, and later attended the Academie Julien and the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where she studied sculpture. She also studied color and composition with Harry Holtzman at his home in Lyme, Conn., and, while raising triplets, continued to sculpt, paint and exhibit her work.

After studying decorative painting at Isabel O’Neil’s school in New York City, McManus opened a decorative painting studio, first in Stonington, Conn., and later in Essex, Conn., where she specialized in custom-painted furniture and commission work in private homes. She closed the studio in 1996 to concentrate on her painting. She then studied at the Lyme Art Association with George and Marcia Phillips and at Lyme Academy with Diane Aeschliman and Dean Keller.

She has exhibited her paintings, which include portraits, still life, animal portraits and landscapes, in New York City and in Chester, Essex, Old Lyme and Stonington, Conn. Her works are held in private collections in California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Washington.