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Here, we blend the bold and the in-between — milestones, insights, and sparks of what’s next. It’s the creative space where ideas unfold in real-time.

  • MTSU Art Festival

    MTSU Art Festival

    ARTISTS WANTED Are you interested in selling your artwork? Then, be a part of the MTSU Art Festival Saturday, October 22, 2022, in collaboration with ‘BORO INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL For Details, Visit: @MTSUARTFESTIVAL Submit Your Work MTSUARTFESTIVAL@GMAIL.COM Spacing Limited, Apply by October 5, 2022 Email to Submit

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  • Beholding ME | Todd Art Gallery

    Beholding ME | Todd Art Gallery

    4 p.m. – Friday, September 30, 2022, join us in the Todd Art Gallery, Todd Hall, Room 224A, for a reception to celebrate Beholding ME: Video Artworks from the Middle Eastern Diaspora on exhibit through October 10. The exhibition presents a dynamic group of video artists from the Middle East and surrounding…

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  • COMMON GROUND LECTURE SERIES

    COMMON GROUND LECTURE SERIES

    Mark your calendars for a lecture and illustration demonstration by Jessie Lin Wednesday, September 14, 2022. at 6 p.m. via Zoom!  https://www.jessielin.net/  Jessie is an award-winning illustrator from Shanghai, China. She works in various artistic fields, including editorial, advertising, surface design, children’s books, and more! Lin works in traditional and digital formats and…

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  • Houston Fryer and Jennifer Seo presenting at 2023 FATE (Foundations in Art: Theory and Education) Conference!

    Houston Fryer and Jennifer Seo presenting at 2023 FATE (Foundations in Art: Theory and Education) Conference!

    2023 FATE (Foundations in Art: Theory and Education) Conference Art and Design Lecturers Houston Fryer and Jennifer Seo presenting their proposal Session 50, “I Don’t Get It And It Makes Me Feel Weird: Understanding conceptual art with emotional intelligence”   Every two years FATE holds a national conference for college-level instructors in Art Foundations and Art History to…

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  • Guitar Pedal Illustration Challenge II

    Guitar Pedal Illustration Challenge II

    GUITAR PEDAL ILLUSTRATION CHALLENGE II IN COLLABORATION WITH NASHVILLE’S MYTHOS GUITAR PEDALS MTSU’s second 15-hour illustration challenge in partnership with Nashville’s Mythos Pedals is this Fall 2022! Register by filling out your name and email on the registration sheet outside Todd, Room 215. The deadline to register is 11/1/22. The challenge will…

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  • RECEPTION/ARTIST TALK

    RECEPTION/ARTIST TALK

    Join the MTSU Department of Art and Design, 2–2:45 p.m., Wednesday, August 31, 2022, for a Reception and Artist Talk. Many of our participating professors will be on hand for you to speak and visit. Also,  our new Chair, Jimmy Mumford will speak briefly and offer a period of Q&A for attendees to discover our…

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  • Biennial 2022: An Art and Design Faculty Exhibit

    Biennial 2022: An Art and Design Faculty Exhibit

    The MTSU Department of Art and Design is pleased to announce an exhibition of selected works by its professors entitled Biennial 2022: A Faculty Exhibition. Scheduled in the Todd Art Gallery, Todd Hall, Room 224A, faculty work opens the department’s fall show calendar and is available to the public from August 22 to September 10,…

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  • New Student Orientation

    New Student Orientation

    Are you a new or transfer student to the MTSU Department of Art and Design? Join this mandatory meeting Wednesday, August 32, 2022, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The location is Todd Hall, Room 204. Questions? Email Erin.Anfinson@mtsu.edu 

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  • Common Ground Artist Lecture Series

    Common Ground Artist Lecture Series

    Join MTSU Department of Art and Design for this Semester’s Artist Lecture Series, Common Ground. Presting artists include Imen Yeh, Dana SanMar, and Emmett Hobbes. Select a button below for details and Zoom Meeting information.     Imen Yeh—Project-Based Fine Artist, February 9, 2022   Imen Yeh   Dana Sanmar—Illustrator and Graphic Designer, March 2…

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  • Alum Visiting Artist Beizar Aradini

    Alum Visiting Artist Beizar Aradini

    Lecture and Discussion with Art Capstone* featuring Alum Beizar Aradini 11:25 a.m.–2 p.m., Tuesday, November 17, 2021 Todd Hall, Room 354 All are Welcome to Attend this Free and Open Event *Art Capstone – An Art and Design course that focuses on public practices related to art-making, such as interdisciplinary…

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Biennial Symposium

Department of Art and Design Faculty
#MTSUart @MTSUart

Wednesday, February 5 – As a concluding event to the department’s Biennial 2024, faculty from the various areas of Art and Design reflected on their work from the exhibition and, more broadly, on their artistic motivations and philosophy with a strong component of Q&A for an invigorating and educational exchange between students and faculty. Among those faculty members who spoke were Paige Medlock, Art Education; Kate Kinder, Studio Art; Doug Dabbs, Graphic Design and Illustration; and Jake Wells, Foundations.

Images of Artwork Left to Right, Top to Bottom – Kim Dummons, Kelsey Duncan, Kathleen O’Connell, and Tony Rodriguez

BIENNIAL 2024: A Department of Art and Design Faculty Exhibition

#MTSUart @MTSUart

Biennial 2024 Poster, Images, top to bottom, left to right: Ambrose Prince, The Sheep Man; Joshua Lynn, Bubble; Nick Satinover, Time is a Distance 8; Sisavanh Phouthavong-Houghton, Fields of Red Anemone Blooming; Kim Dummons, A Conversation Across Time, Posthumous Collaboration with John T. Scott; Kathleen O’Connell, Character Flaw: Denial, Blissful Ignorance, Worrier; Kelsey Duncan, Roxana; Tony Rodriguez, The Andy Warhol Diaries; Background, Staff.

Biennial 2024

MTSU Art and Design proudly presents Biennial 2024: An MTSU Art and Design Faculty Exhibition. This showcase resides in the Todd Art Gallery in Todd Hall, room 224A, and is open until December 14, 2024.

John English

Join Assistant Professor Tony Rodriguez and Illustration legend, John English for 2 hours of conversation over Zoom. John English is an illustrator and the founder of Visual Arts Passage and the director of the ever-prestigious Illustration Academy, the birthplace of many of today’s modern day illustration masters.

In this Zoom session, John will walk us through his career as an illustrator and inform students of the various opportunities available for young and emerging illustrators to engage via the Illustration Academy and Visual Arts Passage.

When? Friday August 30, 2024, at 11 am. Where? Contact Tony.Rodriguez@mtsu.edu for the Zoom link.

Justin Benford

Join Assistant Prof. Tony Rodriguez and Justin Benford for a character design talk and LIVE digital painting demonstration over Zoom (or attend in-person in room 337)

When? Monday October 7, 11:30am
Where? Todd, room 337

Email Tony.Rodriguez@mtsu.edu for Zoom Link

Benford’s credentials:
– Character designer and illustrator at Ripple Effects
– Art director and artist on a short film titled ‘Lucid’
– Book cover illustrator on Chance Calloway’s ‘Pretty Dudes’

More on Instagram at MTSU Illustration

MTSU Illustration | We’ve got another cool artist on board to chat and demo for ya this semester! Join Prof. Rodriguez and Justin Benford for a character… | Instagram

MTSU Department of Art and Design Senior Symposium

Please join us this Monday – Wednesday, April 8 – 10, 15, 2024, Todd Hall, Room 204. Complete schedule and times available at MTSU Senior Symposium – Schedule (google.com)

The MTSU Department of Art and Design’s Research Practicum and Symposium are essential components of the academic evaluation process for Art & Design majors studying Studio Art, Graphic Design, and Art History. The Spring 2024 Symposium involves students presenting their research to faculty, campus, fellow students, and the public, allowing for discourse, feedback, and evaluation.

Don’t miss this opportunity to witness these promising artists and art historians as they showcase their research insights and best work of their Junior and Senior years.

For further information, visit: www.mtsuartanddesign.com.

Saturdays At Todd: Gale Stoner | Photography

Introduction to Composition

This course is designed for beginning and intermediate-level photographers; even the experienced photographer may learn a tip or two. We will look at the fundamentals of the creative elements of photography. You will be introduced to principles and techniques that will create visual interest. The discussion of composition will include the Principle of Thirds, Power of Leading Lines, Symmetry, and Balance. In addition, we will discuss the principles of negative space, depth of field, and cropping for visual flow. By understanding the guidelines of composition, you will have a clearer understanding of what draws the viewer’s eye to the subject.

Gale Stoner Bio

Gale Stoner began photographing landscapes in the mid-sixties while stationed in Duluth, MN. Gale, a self-taught photographer, has been highlighted in the international publication Photoshop User magazine and KelbyOne Insider Column, and his image of Old Faithful at sunrise was published in Outdoor Photographer magazine. One of Gale’s images was selected for the cover of the 2019 Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce Visitors Bureau guide booklet. Gale has served as the 2018-2019 Photographer Laureate for the City of Murfreesboro Cultural Arts Department. In 2020, Gale was commissioned by the Chamber Visitor’s Bureau to produce images for the Safely Travel Project. Gale enjoys sharing his skills in group and one-on-one fine art photography classes.

This Workshop is Free and Open to the Public. Registration is Required to Participate. The total number of participants will not exceed 30.

REGISTRATION at Saturdays At Todd: Gale Stoner | Photography (signupgenius.com)

Register BEFORE the session begins. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee spaces for those who are not registered.

Driving Directions: 1512 Military Memorial, Murfreesboro, TN 37132-0025.

For additional information, parking, and other questions, contact eric.snyder@mtsu.edu or call 615-898-5532.

Rachel Mindrup | Portrait Painter

IG-CommonGround-Image copy.png

Rachel Mindrup | Portrait Painter

Noon – Friday, April 12, 2024

Via Zoom

Rachel Mindrup is an Associate Professor of Drawing and Painting at Creighton University where she is also the Richard L. Deming, MD Endowed Chair in Medical Humanities.

Hosted By Alaina Miller & Sheri Selph

Email sheri.selph@mtsu.edu by April 11 for this exclusive artist chat

Questions: alaina.miller@mtsu.edu IG-CommonGround-Image copy.png

2024 Award of Excellence Recipient

During the Tuesday, March 19, Awards Dinner of the Tennessee Association of Museums, the MTSU Department of Art and Design’s Todd Art Gallery was awarded a 2024 Award of Excellence for the collaborative effort involving the traveling exhibition, Crafting Blackness: Black Bodies Making Form. As a collaborative, East Tennessee State University’s Curators Karlota Contreas-Koterbay, Karen Sullivan, and the Tipton and Slocumb Galleries share this award with Tennessee Craft, Tennessee State University’s Hiram Van Gordon Gallery, and MTSU. We are most grateful for this special recognition to our Curators, fellow exhibition spaces, the artists of Black Bodies Making Form, and the Tennessee Association of Museums!

Stained Glass Mosaics with Dr. Paige Medlock

  • November 4, 2023,  10 a.m.–1 p.m.
  • Todd 205
  • Ages 10+ (students under 18, please register with an adult)
  • Max 12 participants

GLASS MOSAICS with Dr. Paige Medlock

Images: Left, a young student working in Glass Mosaics; Center, left, Dr. Paige Medlock; Center, right, Art Educators showing off their skills; Right, Glass Mosaics process.

The MTSU Department of Art and Design invites you to a Glass Mosaics Saturdays At Todd workshop guided by Art Educator Dr. Paige Medlock.

10 a.m.–1 p.m., Saturday, November 4, 2023, MTSU Todd Hall, Room 205

Participants will be provided with all materials.

This is FREE and Open to the Public Workshop geared toward Art Educators, General Educators, High School Students, MTSU Students, Alums, and Artists. Everyone interested is encouraged to participate.

Professional Development Certificates are available to all participating teachers.

REGISTRATION

Register BEFORE the session begins. Unfortunately, due to spacing, anyone not registered before the workshop will not be permitted to participate.

Register Here

For additional information and other questions, contact eric.snyder@mtsu.edu or call 615-898-5532.

FREE PARKING is available in the Jones Hall lot adjacent to Todd Hall. DRIVING DIRECTIONS: 1512 Military Memorial, Murfreesboro, TN 37132-0025.