Governor’s School Visual Arts Gallery

 Tennessee’s Young Visual Artists

Visual Art in Tennessee’s schools should seek to:

  • Provide an understanding of the ways mankind has expressed ideas and recorded experiences through the medium of visual art.
  • Provide a means of communicating ideas, feelings and beliefs.
  • Promote human understanding, achievement and self-development through the study of visual art.
  • Equip students to be knowledgeable of the influence of visual art in daily life.
  • Facilitate the development of technical skills in the production of a work of art.
  • Acquaint students with career opportunities in visual art.
  • Facilitate the development of aesthetic awareness of natural and man-made environments.
  • Equip students to analyze, criticize, interpret, and evaluate the components of a work of art.
  • Encourage quality craftsmanship.

Visual Art Faculty

  • Rodger Murray

    Visual Art Chair

    Rodger Murray retired in 2006 from teaching visual art in Tennessee public schools for 33…

  • Ashton Ludden

    printmaker, educator and sign artist

    Ashton Ludden is a printmaker, educator and sign artist. Her prints explore our relationship with…

  • Bryan Wilkerson

    Ceramics teacher

    Bryan Wilkerson is a TN Native and Professor of Art and Design at Roane State…

  • Charles Clary

    Painting

    Charles Clary was born in 1980 in Morristown, Tennessee. He received his BFA in painting…

  • Christina Humble

    Drawing and Printmaking

    Christina Humble received her MFA in Studio Art at American University in Washington, DC. She…

  • Dawn Martin Dickins

    Drawing

    Dawn Martin Dickins is a drawing/installation artist originally from a small farming community in Georgia.…

  • Ross Mazzupappa

    Printmaking and Photography

    Ross Mazzupappa is the Instructor of Printmaking and Photography at Bowling Green State University, in…

  • Thomas Sturgill

    Sculpture

    Thomas Sturgill was born is Pound, Virginia a small coal town far past its prime.…

  • Dave Rollins

    Orientation to Art tacher

    Dave Rollins is a book maker, sculptor, Alchemist, and self-proclaimed Wizard. He received his MFA…

  • Patrick DeGuira

    Design as Art/Art as Design

    Patrick DeGuira (born 1972) lives and works in Nashville, TN. He has exhibited his work…

  • Patrick Gosnell

    Graphic Design

    Patrick Gosnell is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Austin Peay State University. He…

Rodger Murray

Visual Art Chair

Rodger Murray retired in 2006 from teaching visual art in Tennessee public schools for 33 years. He taught at Franklin County High School, Winchester, Tennessee, for 12 years and at Tullahoma High School, Tullahoma, Tennessee, for 21 years. During his high school teaching career Mr. Murray was chosen by his peers as ‘Teacher of the Year’ five times. He is an adjunct ‘Art Education’ teacher at Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, and Cumberland University in Lebanon.

Ever since the Governor School curriculum added visual art in 1986, he has been part of the faculty, either as a teacher or on staff. In his free time, Mr. Murray sings with a community chorus in Nashville and works at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center as an usher. He holds a B.S. degree from Middle Tennessee State University and a M.Ed. degree from Tennessee State University.

Ashton Ludden

printmaker, educator and sign artist

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

Ceramics teacher

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.

Charles Clary

Painting

Charles Clary was born in 1980 in Morristown, Tennessee. He received his BFA in painting with honors from Middle Tennessee State University and his MFA in painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design. He has had solo exhibitions at Nancy Margolis Gallery in NYC, The Rymer Gallery in Nashville, TN, and Galerie EVOLUTION-Pierre Cardin in Paris, France. He completed a three week residency in Lacoste France, completed a painting assistantship with Joe Amrhein of Pierogi Gallery in Brooklyn NYC, and had work acquired by fashion designer Pierre Cardin and gallery owner James Cohan. As of 2013 Charles had been featured in numerous print and Internet interviews including, WIRED magazine (US and UK), Hifructose.com, Beautifuldecay.com and Bluecanavs Magazine.

He has also been featured in publications including “Papercraft 2” published by Gestalten and “PUSH Paper” published by Lark Books, “Paper Art” published by ArtPower International Publishing, and “Paper Works” published by Sandu Publishing as well as 500 Paper Objects published by Lark Books. Charles has lectured nationally and exhibited regionally, nationally, and internationally in numerous solo and group shows, is represented by The Rymer Galery in Nashville, TN, the Diana Lowenstein Gallery in Miami, FL, the Kenise Barnes Gallery in Larchmont, NY and currently lives and works in Murfreesboro, TN.

 

Christina Humble

Drawing and Printmaking

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

Drawing

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

Printmaking and Photography

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.

Thomas Sturgill

Sculpture

Thomas Sturgill was born is Pound, Virginia a small coal town far past its prime. He received a BFA in Sculpture from the University of Tennessee and an interdisciplinary MFA from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He has exhibited nationally and internationally. Most of Sturgill’s work is part of a two-person art collaborative named Pulled Resources, which focuses on the creation of large-scale projects with limited budgets and short timescales. He is an Assistant Professor at MTSU, teaching Foundations and Sculpture classes.    

 

Dave Rollins

Orientation to Art tacher

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

Design as Art/Art as Design

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.

Patrick Gosnell

Graphic Design

Patrick Gosnell is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design at Austin Peay State University. He holds a BFA in Photography from the University of Georgia and an MFA in Communication Design from Texas State University. As a design educator and full-fledged “type nerd”, Patrick prides himself on being able to spot the improper use of an Em Dash from fifty yards away. Since 2013, he has taught courses in typography, editorial design, branding, and the history of graphic design. His work has been recognized by the international design publication Graphis and the University & College Designers Association. He currently lives in Nashville with his family.

 

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