Art

Meet the Faculty | Departmental Information Sheet

Academic Program
Art students at Emory & Henry College create in a stimulating environment with nationally recognized studio artists and historians. The program is a combination of a liberal arts education with rigorous studio art practice, which provides students with an education for a lifetime. Art graduates from Emory & Henry thrive in a variety of careers including the fine arts, graphic design, and teaching. The Emory & Henry art program emphasizes individual student/faculty interaction that ultimately leads to a mentor relationship. This unique feature makes the Emory & Henry art program a success. At every point, faculty members emphasize serious critical thinking about visual arts problem-solving.

Degree Program
Art students at Emory & Henry quickly find themselves immersed in a forward-thinking and challenging art program dealing with current and contemporary issues in art. Students may pursue a B.A. degree in Studio Art, Graphic Design, or Teacher Preparation. The department regularly offers courses in two-dimensional design, three-dimensional design, drawing, figure drawing, graphic design, new media, digital art, photography, ceramics, sculpture, crafts, and art history.

All art students prepare and display a final exhibition of their work in a one-person show during their senior year.

Exhibitions, Visiting Artists, International Travel
Emory & Henry College is well known in the Southeastern United States for its high profile exhibition/visiting artist series. Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Eric Fischl, Janet Fish, James Valerio and Sally Mann have exhibited in The 1912 Gallery located on the campus in the train depot. Nationally acclaimed artists including Jerry Uelsmann, Jack Beal, James McGarrell, Dan Welden and Sondra Freckleton have led in-class workshops with our students. Every other year, established professional craft artists participate in our Craft Biennial. This dynamic program is a way for students to directly interact with practicing artists. In addition, the gallery exhibits contemporary work in a variety of media from regional, national, and internationally recognized artists.

Students exhibit their work in one of three galleries in Byars Hall. The student gallery spaces feature several exhibits each year including senior shows, juried shows, and student art association projects.

International study is available through a variety of college programs. The Art Department sponsors a study course in Italy every other year. Students from Emory & Henry also have studied art abroad in England and China.

Planning a Course of Study
An introduction to art concepts, such as design, drawing, and art appreciation, is helpful prior to enrollment at Emory & Henry. The department reviews portfolios for incoming first-year students. Emory & Henry College offers course credit for Advanced Placement Studio Art, Advanced Placement Art History, and the International Baccalaureate Program.

Students in the art program often choose double majors. The combination of art with another program is a way to prepare students for a variety of future career opportunities.

All studio art and graphic design students select a minor in another program as part of the requirements for the art major. This breadth exposes students to a wide variety of viewpoints that enrich their art-making capacity. Minors that work well with art are English (publishing), mass communications (television and print media), and psychology (art therapy).

Facilities
Byars Fine Art Center houses two spacious studios dedicated to painting, drawing, design, printmaking and art history. The digital image center, located on the main floor, houses Macintosh computers with the latest versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver and Microsoft Office. Students work on black & white developing and printing in the photography darkroom. Byars Hall also houses the department’s faculty studio offices and a visual resource center.

The Martin-Brock Annex is home to three-dimensional art including crafts, sculpture and ceramics. Students have access to a variety of power equipment, a clay slab roller, extruder and electric wheels.

Faculty
Charles W. Goolsby, M.F.A., James Madison University, B.F.A., Radford University
www.charlesgoolsby.com
Research interests: Painting and printmaking.

H. Lee Jones, M.F.A., Savannah College of Art and Design; B.A., Carson-Newman College.
Research interests: Photography, graphic design and digital art.

Val Lyle, M.F.A., East Tennessee State University; B.F.A., Ringling College of Art and Design.
Research interests: Sculpture, ceramics and painting.

Anna Nenonen, M.F.A., Rochester Institute of Technology; M.A., Abo Akadeni, Finland.
Research interests: Art history, digital art and painting.

Michael Wright, M.F.A., Virginia Commonwealth University; B.S., James Madison University.
Research interests: Photography and digital media.