Alumni
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William N. Beckwith
BFA & MFA, Sculpture
http://williamnbeckwith.com/
William Beckwith has produced public and private bronzes for over 30 years. His work is mainly figurative. He is widely known for his portrait busts, many of which are modeled from photographs of deceased subjects. Originally from Greenville, MS he now lives & works out of Taylor, MS, winner of the “Governor’s Award of Excellence in the Arts” for 2001. His work has been exhibited in Splashlight Studios and Frank Marino Gallery, New York, NY, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS, Louisiana Word’s Fair, New Orleans, LA, and the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC. He has won numerous awards & honors and is represented in public & private collections nation-wide. He currently teaches sculpture part time at the University of Mississippi Art Department.
Andrew Blanchard
MFA, Printmaking – 2004
http://andrewblanchard.net/
Andrew Blanchard was born in the wild swamps of Louisiana, though was raised in Waveland, a small beach community on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Like most boys who grew up close to a beach, he fished and swam until the ring of the dinner bell. At a young age, he became fascinated with the bold, curvilinear woodcuts of another Coast native, Walter Anderson. From this early inspiration, he established his love for printmaking.
Blanchard earned a B.A. degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2000 with an emphasis on printmaking and a minor in photography. Shortly thereafter, he traveled to Paris, France to work and study with Frederic Possot, a master lithography printer. This experience solidified his desire to be a lifelong artist-printmaker. In 2004, he earned his M.F.A. degree from The University of Mississippi in Oxford, MS.
In the last six years, Blanchard’s lithographic and photo silkscreen prints have been included in over sixty national and international juried printmaking exhibitions. In addition, his prints have been collected throughout the United States, as well as in Hawaii, France, Bulgaria, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. Recently, several of his prints were included inPrintmakers Today, Schiffer Publishing’s new text on international, contemporary fine-art printmaking. In the summer of 2011, his latest work will be featured in the Southern Edition of New American Paintings magazine.
Blanchard is currently the Associate Professor of Printmaking and Photography at Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Charlie Buckley
BFA, Painting – 2004
http://www.buckleystudio.com/
After graduating from the University of Mississippi (BFA/ Painting) in 2004, I opened a full-time studio in Oxford focusing on commissions and personal work. In 2007 I was offered a Graduate Assistantship in the MFA program at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where I lived, worked, and taught for two years, graduating with a Masters in Fine Arts in 2009. I have taught Foundations Art Courses (Drawing I and II, Design II, and Painting I) at both Miami University (as a Instructor of Record) and Mississippi State University. I have participated in National and Regional Competitions and Invitationals, and have shown my work in various Solo and Group exhibitions. Since returning to Mississippi I have focused on Landscapes/ Cityscapes, and I am currently working on a Visual History of Mississippi, a project for which the Mississippi Arts Commission has awarded me a 2010 Fellowship in Visual Arts. I operate a full-time studio in Tupelo, MS, and any and all are welcome to come a take a peek at what I am working on. Please explore this website and galleries, and if you have any inquiries or commission requests please let me know.
William Dunlap
MFA, Painting – 1976
www.williamdunlap.com
William Dunlap has distinguished himself as an artist, arts commentator and educator, during a career that has spanned more than three decades.
His paintings, sculpture and constructions are included in prestigious collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Lauren Rogers Museum, Mobil Corporation, Riggs Bank, IBM Corporation, Federal Express, The Equitable Collection, Rogers Ogden Collection, Arkansas Art Center, the United States State Department, and United States Embassies throughout the world.
He has had solo exhibitions at the Corocoran Gallery of Art, National Academy of Science, Aspen Museum of Art, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Museum of Western Virginia, Albany Museum of Art, Cheekwood Fine Arts Center, Mint Museum of Art, Mississippi Museum of Art, Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans, to name but a few. Panorama of the American Landscape, his fourteen panel, 112 feet long cyclorama painting depicting a contemporary view of the Shenandoah Valley in summer and the Antietam battlefield in winter, was commissioned for the Rotunda Gallery at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1985, but since its debut has been shown in nearly a dozen American museums and art centers, its most recent venue being the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, VA. In addition, Reconstructed Recollections and In the Spirit of the Land are also exhibitions of Mr. Dunlap’s work that continue major tours.
A Winding River: Contemporary Painting from Vietnam, an exhibition he co-curated, opened at the Meridian International Center in Washington, DC during the 1997-98 season and traveled to several American museums. He also co-curated a counterpoint to that project: Outward Bound: American Art on the Brink of the 21st Century which opened at the Meridian International Center as well and is traveling throughout Southeast Asia. Currently, he is working on another exhibition to open at the Meridian International Center, that of contemporary Cuban painting.
Honored in his field, Mr. Dunlap has received awards and fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest Foundation for study and travel in Southeast Asia, Warhol Foundation, Virginia Commission for the Arts, Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art/RJR Nabisco Visual Artists Award, and the Mississippi Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.
He is an inspired speaker and has lectured on art related subjects at colleges, universities, institutions and professional conferences. He serves as arts commentator on WETA-TV’s cultural round table show, “Around Town.”
William Dunlap has an M.F.A. from the University of Mississippi, and taught at Appalachian State University in North Carolina (1970-79) and Memphis State University (1979-80.) He currently maintains studios in McLean, Virginia; Mathiston, Mississippi and Coral Gables, Florida.
Hershell George
BA & BFA – 1970
http://hgeorgedesign.com/
Hershell George has been designing award-winning corporate and not-for-profit communications for over 20 years. George’s work has received numerous awards. He has been published in Print, Art Direction and Graphic Design USA and has served as a judge for national and regional design competitions. George is also an accomplished fine artist; his paintings, prints and photographs have been show in galleries in Manhattan, Boston and at the Whitney Museum, and are included in private collections in the US and Canada.
A native Mississippian, George received a BA and a BFA from the University of Mississippi and then came to New York City’s Pratt Institute, where he earned a MFA.
Richard Kelso
MFA, Painting – 1980
http://richardkelsopaintings.com/
Richard Kelso was born and grew up in Cleveland Mississippi. After graduating Cleveland High School, he attended Delta State University, studying under Sammy Britt, and earning a degree in Art in 1970. During this time he also studied painting under Henry Hensche at the Cape School of Art in Provincetown Massachusetts.
After serving in the military, he attended the University of Mississippi, earning his MFA in painting in 1980. He taught at Millsaps College and Meridian Community College and then moved to Jackson in 1987 where he currently resides, and became a full time painter. He is represented in collections throughout the country.
Tom Lee
MFA, Sculpture
Tom Lee has been teaching Sculpture and Foundations at Memphis College of Art since 1989. He has received two individual state arts grants, in Mississippi and Tennessee, and has exhibited work locally, regionally, and nationally. Tom’s community work includes set and prop design for Theater Memphis, Opera Memphis, Ballet Memphis and docent training lectures at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. His home and studio are in Coldwater, Mississippi where he pursues the elusive happiness of creative living.
Greely Myatt
MFA, Sculpture – 1980
Greely Myatt was born and educated in Mississippi. He currently lives and works in Memphis, Tennessee, where he is Professor of Art at The University of Memphis. His sculptures and installations have been exhibited in over 25 solo and numerous group exhibitions across the United States, Europe and Japan. He has received grants and fellowships from the Tennessee Arts Commission, The University of Memphis, The University of Georgia, Alternate Roots, Atlanta, and received the Mississippi Arts and Letters Visual Arts Award in 1994. Myatt was an exchange artist to Israel in 1998. He is represented by Sandler Hudson Gallery, Atlanta, and David Lusk Gallery, Memphis.
Erin Rasberry Napier
BFA, Graphic Design – 2007
http://www.lucky-luxe.com
Erin Napier is the founder and creative director of Lucky Luxe Couture Correspondence, an internationally acclaimed luxury wedding stationery boutique that has been featured by Martha Stewart Weddings, Brides Magazine, WellWed Magazine, Mississippi Magazine, and many of the most respected wedding and design industry blogs and websites. In 2009 and 2010, she gained international attention as the first wedding stationer to offer screenprinted vintage handkerchief invitations. Lucky Luxe’s other specialties include letterpress wedding invitations and vintage-style postcards. Her love for vintage ephemera, typography and texture are evident in the company’s signature designs.
Napier’s company has worked with clients around the world, including professional athletes and notable fashion designers. In 2011, she was commissioned to design letterpress concert posters for ZZ Top and alternative-rock hitmakers, The Goo Goo Dolls. She lives and works from downtown Laurel, Mississippi with her husband Ben (BA, 2007).
Joseph V. Pitts
MFA, Painting & Drawing – 1971
http://www.josephvancepitts.com
Joseph Vance Pitts received his M.F.A. degree in Studio Painting and Drawing from the University of Mississippi. His undergraduate degree was from the University of Georgia, Athens, GA. He studied with Lamar Dodd, George Cress and Willey Sanderson. Mr. Pitts did further studies at the Corcoran School of Art, Washington D.C. and the Leeds Polytechnic College of Art, Leeds, Yorkshire U.K. He also studied Art History with S. Lane Faison of Williams College and Barry Wind.
Mr. Pitts has taught at the University of Mobile; The University of South Alabama, Mobile; The Ringling School of Art, Sarasota, FL; and The University of Mississippi. He was one of a small number of artists to be selected to show at the 1984 Worlds Fair in New Orleans. His work was also featured in the Traveling Exhibition and Book entitled “Southern Realism” curated by art historians Tom Dewey and Donald Kuspit. His paintings are in numerous collections including the Mobile Museum of Art, Am South and The University of Mississippi.
He and his wife, Jane, who is also an artist, live in a restored 19th century farmhouse near LaGrange, Georgia.
Willie Ray Parish
BFA, Sculpture – 1970
www.willierayparish.com
A Mississippi native, Willie Ray Parish attended the University of Mississippi on a football scholarship, graduating in 1970 with a BFA in sculpture. He earned an MFA at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles in 1978, returning to Mississippi to direct the Education Department and the New South Film Center at the Mississippi Museum of Art.
In 1981 he joined the art faculty at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He moved to the University of Texas at El Paso in 1984 where he ran the sculpture program and twice served as the Art Department Chair. In May 2013 he retired from teaching after a 32-year university career and recieved the status of Professor Emiritus.
Parish’s works are featured in numerous public and private collections including the El Paso Museum of Art, the Mississippi Museum of Art, Washington D.C.’s Newseum, the Albuquerque Museum of Art, and Earthship Biotecture in Taos.
He is founder and Director of the Border Art Residency and, with his wife, artist Becky Hendrick, hosted the program on their property in La Union, New Mexico from 2000 to 2015. The couple divides their time between Tucson, Arizona, and Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico.
Boyd Saunders
MFA, Printmaking
The prints of Boyd Saunders have been exhibited and collected throughout the world. He established the printmaking program at the University of South Carolina. In 1984 he took his “Southern Cross” etchings on a tour to a number of museums in China. In 1989 he published, in collaboration with the U.S.C. Press a deluxe, limited edition of William Faulkner’s short story “Spotted Horses” with the complete text and illustrated with 34 original lithographs, hand- drawn and hand-pulled by Mr. Saunders. More recently he was commissioned to design and execute the “Aikenhead Collection”, a series of original stone lithographs and bronze sculptures celebrating harness racing in America. In 1972 Mr. Saunders organized printmakers from the South into the Southern Graphics Council and served as its first president. He has been the subject of numerous magazine and newspaper articles as well as TV interviews.
Cliff Tresner
BFA, Sculpture/Woodworking – 1990
MFA, Sculpture – 1994
http://www.clifftresner.com/
Cliff Tresner comes from a farming background on the plains of Illinois and Indiana. He attended Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN, and earned a BFA in Sculpture/Woodworking in 1990. From there he came to the south, attending The University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, and receiving his MFA in sculpture in 1994.
Mr. Tresner has been teaching sculpture and drawing at the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) since 1997. He has received many grants and awards including Best in Show at the Louisiana Contemporary 2014 exhibition at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA; a Louisiana Division of Arts Fellowship; Northeast Louisiana Arts Council’s “Artist of the Year Award”; second place award in the National Outdoor Sculpture Competition, Lakeland, FL; and has received numerous Career Advancement Grants from the Louisiana Division of the Arts.
Mr. Tresner has an extensive exhibition record in drawing, painting, and sculpture. His recent focus has been on large-scale outdoor public sculpture with exhibitions in FL, NC, VA, LA, AL, NY, NC, and MS.
He serves the community as director of ULM’s Sculpture Garden, an exhibition space devoted to bringing artists from around the nation to the University and local community; Director of ULM’s Bry Hall Gallery, exhibiting artists of all disciplines; board member of the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council; and is currently historian of Kappa Pi International Art Fraternity.
Glennray Tutor
BA, Art and English – 1974
MFA, Painting – 1976
http://www.glennraytutor.com/
Working in the still life tradition of 17th century Dutch painters, Glennray Tutor elicits a sense of wonder from his viewers through the direct presentation of contemporary commonplace items. Home canned as well as store-bought jars of vegetables, fruit, jellies; toys; fireworks; candies; marbles; all of these transformed into visual treasures. “He draws us into his painted world to marvel at the commonplace artifacts of daily life and, through his mastery of the painting technique, shows them to us as if we are seeing them for the first time.”
His painted objects protrude as 3-dimensional objects into the viewer’s space. Presenting his subjects distilled through the techniques of 17th Century Dutch masters into a 21st Century hyper-realism, Tutor coyly reminds us that truth and illusion are partners in the artist’s game. He draws us into his paintings to marvel at the artifacts of daily life, as if seeing them for the first time. We are magically given new, heightened awareness of shapes, colors, contents through Tutor’s impeccable painting technique and surface finish. Perhaps he invites us to speculate about the nature of his artistic metaphors, for the images abound with suggestions and allusions.
Barry Hannah once wrote “The paintings of Tutor are like life after a glaucoma operation. A whole new vision is given to us.”
“My work is all about the renewal of the sense of wonder,” Tutor says. “I’m celebrating being here in this miraculous existence.”
Jeremy Vaughn
BA, University of Mississippi – 2002
http://www.avaughndesign.com/
Jeremy Vaughn is an alumnus of the University of Mississippi Art Department and is currently the owner and art director of the award-winning Vaughn Design (Creative Agency), founded in 2006.
Graduating from the University of MS in 2002 with an Art degree in graphic design as well as a business degree, Jeremy has joined with web designers, artists, and marketing specialists to develop and implement business concepts, team building, and creative art and design. His versatility is apparent with retail clientele, sports affiliations, entertainment industry, franchise restaurants and corporations, directing not only in design, but also for overall exposure and success through marketing, website design, advertising, and branding.