Tennessee’s Young Visual Artists

Michael Baggarly is an Associate Professor of Art at Middle Tennessee State University where he teaches Sculpture and 3-D Design. He lives and works in Murfreesboro, TN with his wife Melodie and two children Kaia and Caedryn. Michael earned a BFA (Magna Cum Laude) from Western Kentucky University in 1998 and MA and MFA degrees from University of Iowa in 2001 and 2002 as an Iowa Arts Fellowship recipient. His art has been exhibited nationally and internationally in juried and invitational exhibitions. As an artist, Michael is drawn to a range of materials. Working between cast iron, complex steel/ wood fabrications, and 3D printed mixed media provides him a range of options to address his conceptual interests.

Michael Baggarly is an Associate Professor of Art at Middle Tennessee State University, where he teaches Sculpture and 3-D Design. He lives and works in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, with his wife, Melodie, and their two children, Kaia and Caedryn.

He earned his BFA (Magna Cum Laude) from Western Kentucky University in 1998 and completed both his MA and MFA at the University of Iowa in 2001 and 2002 as an Iowa Arts Fellowship recipient. His artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally in both juried and invitational exhibitions.

Michael has been involved with the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts for a total of ten years—serving as the Sculpture Instructor from 2002 to 2011, and returning to the role again in 2025. This is his first year as Chair of the Visual Arts Program.

Ashton Ludden is a printmaker, educator and sign artist.

Her prints explore our relationship with other living creatures as we become further removed from the natural world. As she researches human impact on endangered animals, Ludden develops images of wildlife coping with humans’ influence on their livelihood. She makes use of multiple printmaking processes, such as hand-engraving on copper and monotype, to link the fragile existence of each animal to a subtle pattern of its threat, such as plastic pollution or logging. Collectively, Ludden’s prints are alert to the wild around us and consider our everyday actions that affect it directly or indirectly. Her work aims to evoke a renewal of attentiveness, conversation, and respect for other living beings.

Currently, she is developing a body of work focusing on issues closer to home in the East Tennessee region. The first print in this series is of the North Carolina Flying Squirrel, which is losing its habitat due to the invasive woolly adelgids attacking the Eastern Hemlocks. Ludden is interested in the ramifications of invasive species in our own backyard, such as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Ashton Ludden received her MFA in Printmaking from the University of Tennessee in 2013 and her BFA in Engraving Arts and Printmaking from Emporia State University in 2009. Ludden’s prints have been exhibited in galleries nationally and internationally as well as at animal education and welfare conferences. She teaches printmaking and bookmaking workshops regionally and nationally.

Currently, Ludden is an artist member of the Vacuum Shop Studios Collaborative (vacuumshopstudios.wordpress.com) and the head sign artist for Trader Joe’s in Knoxville, TN.

Instagram: @ashton_ludden

Bryan Wilkerson is a TN Native and Professor of Art and Design at Roane State Community College. His creative practices are focused primarily on Ceramics and Public Art but extends into design and drawing. His work explores humor, craft, irony, and play through common symbolic references. He is also the creator and director of the ArtMobile traveling gallery and pop up workshop space.

Christina Humble received her MFA in Studio Art at American University in Washington, DC. She has a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Youngstown State University. Christina is an interdisciplinary artist who works in drawing, painting, printmaking, and photography. The themes of her work are often based on self reflection and personal observations that she re-conveys into broader ideas about society. She’s worked and shown nationally and internationally. She participated in an artist residency in Berlin, Germany through Glougair Studios, as well as a Study Abroad in Venice, Italy focusing on etching and art history. When she’s not in the studio she spends time with her three cats whom are often featured in her work. Currently, Christina is an instructor of Drawing and Printmaking at Adrian College in Michigan.

Dawn Martin Dickins is a drawing/installation artist originally from a small farming community in Georgia. Dawn loves the performative nature of drawing large scale in public spaces, which allows the viewer to experience the evolution of the drawing. Her goal is not to create permanent art works, but to create experiences. Dawn earned a BFA from Georgia Southern University and an MFA at the University of South Carolina. She currently lives in Clarksville and teaches as a full-time instructor at Middle Tennessee State University in the Foundations Department.

www.dawnmartindickins.com

Ross Mazzupappa is the Instructor of Printmaking and Photography at Bowling Green State University, in Bowling Green, Ohio. He holds a MFA and MA from the University of Iowa in printmaking with a minor emphasis in photography, and BFA from Youngstown State University in printmaking/painting. Ross is well versed and practices all major forms of printmaking but specializes in lithography, monoprint, historic/alternative photo printing, and new technologies/digital hybrid processes. Ross’s artistic practice deals with themes of socio-economic and ecological issues concerning the Rust Belt region of the US. As well as social implication of technology, labor, and utility of spaces. His work fluidly moves through multiple print processes that intersect between drawings, digital, photo, and the multiple.

Dave Rollins is a book maker, sculptor, Alchemist, and self-proclaimed Wizard. He received his MFA in Book Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book (UICB) and his BFA in Sculpture from Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). He has taught courses in Book Arts, 2D and 3D Design, Drawing I, Drawing II, Art Appreciation, and Introduction to Art at the UICB, MTSU, and Motlow State Community College (MSCC). His books and sculptures have been shown nationally and he has had several solo exhibitions, the most recent being Caput Mortuum, exhibited at the UICB. At present, Dave resides in Murfreesboro, Tennessee where he teaches and continues to make art while pondering the great mysteries of the universe.

Patrick DeGuira (born 1972) lives and works in Nashville, TN. He has exhibited his work at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Brooks Museum of Art, Hunter Museum of Art, Cheekwood Museum of Art, as well as numerous commercial, non profit, University galleries, and is represented by Zeitgeist Gallery. In addition to his exhibition career, he has worked as a Museum Exhibit Designer, educator, and curator. He has co-curated video exhibitions through Fugitive Projects, which has held exhibitions worldwide; including such venues as La Maison Laurentine (France), MVMA Fest 2010 (Marfa), Emmedia (Calgary),Version 10 Festival Screening (Chicago), Banff Center, and the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival (Ireland).

His work has been reviewed and featured in numerous publications, including The Oxford American, New American Paintings, Art Papers, Number, and Art Daily, and he is a recipient of a Tennessee Independent Artist Fellowship Grant and multiple Tennessee Professional Development Support Grants. DeGuira received a BFA from Memphis College of Art (1994) and is currently completing his Master of Fine Arts at Vermont College of Fine Arts.