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.
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…
#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…
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.
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…
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, 11:30amWhere? 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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
Spacing Limited, Apply by October 5, 2022
Email to Submit
4 p.m. – Friday, September 30, 2022, join us in the Todd Art Gallery, Todd Hall, Room 224A, for a reception to celebrate
on exhibit through October 10.
The exhibition presents a dynamic group of video artists from the Middle East and surrounding Diasporas to explore issues of gender, politics, colonialism, culture, and identity through videos and documentaries. In addition, the exhibition aims to analyze and reconceptualize the existing narratives of Middle Eastern communities in the United States.
Curator: Mohammed Meerzaei
Exhibition Dates: Wednesday, September 21 – Monday, October 10, 2022
Todd Art Gallery, Todd Hall, Room 224A
Department of Art and Design | MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY
Curation Liaison: Raheleh Filsoofi
Exhibition Sponsors: MTSU Department of Art and Design/Todd Art Gallery, MTSU program in Middle East Studies, MTSU Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Vanderbilt University Department of Art, Vanderbilt University Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities.
Image Center: My Existence is Political, detail, Bezair Aradini
Exhibition Sponsors: MTSU Department of Art and Design/Todd Art Gallery, MTSU program in Middle East Studies, MTSU Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Vanderbilt University Department of Art, Vanderbilt University Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities.
Participating Artists: Bezair Aradini, Nuveen Barwari, Farhad Bahram, Sarah Brahim,
Ronnie Karfiol, Habiba El-Sayed, and Setareh Ghoreishi
Background Image: Nikita Chisnikov, detail
Mark your calendars for a lecture and illustration demonstration by Jessie Lin Wednesday, September 14, 2022. at 6 p.m. via Zoom!
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 is prepared to pull back the curtain on her process for all MTSU students via Zoom!
Zoom information to join the meeting is below.
Selected Clients:
Johns Hopkins Nursing, Deseret Magazine, Adobe, AFT Health Care, American Educator, Notre Dame Magazine, Knowable Magazine, Sky & Telescope Magazine, Madison Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, 5280 Magazine, Moxy Hotel, Sanlian Life Week Magazine (三è”生活周刊), New Weekly Magazine (新周刊), Lendlease, Palace Food Beijing, National Geography China, Ping An Insurance, Panasonic, Daniel Wellington, China World Summit Wing, INOHERB, Guomai, etc.
Honors & Exhibitions:
2022 Brightness Illustration Awards | Editorial Third Place
2022 American Illustration 41 | Chosen Winner
2022 Creative Quarterly 100 Best Annual
2022 Communication Arts | Short List
2021 iJungle Illustration Awards | Merit Awards
2021 Creative Quarterly 66 | Runner-up
2021 Society of Illustrators 64 | Selected Winner
2021 World Illustration Awards | Shortlist
2021 3×3 Illustration Annual No.18 | Honorable Mention
2021 The ADC 100th Annual Awards | Shortlist
2021 Communication Arts | Short List
2021 Associated Collegiate Press fall Clips and Clicks | First Place
2020 Brightness Award | Theme: Freedom
2020 Creative Quarterly 61 | Runner-up
2020 Red Dot Communication Design Awards
2020 Applied Arts Student Awards
2020 3×3 Illustration Annual No.17 | Merit
2020 Creative Quarterly 59 | Runner-up
2020 Communication Arts | Short List
2019 iJungle Illustration Awards | Merit Awards
2019 Open Studio Night SCAD
2019 Adobe Design Achievement Awards | Top Talent
2019 3×3 Illustration Annual No.16 | Merit
2019 Applied Arts Student Awards
2019 Creative Quarterly 56 | Runner-up
2019 Mable House Exhibition
2017 Cheltenham Illustration Awards
Topic: Jessie Lin (Common Ground)
Time: Sep 14, 2022, 06:00 PM Central Time (the US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://mtsu.zoom.us/j/87966816840
Meeting ID: 879 6681 6840
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Tony Rodriguez
Editorial Illustrator
Assistant Professor of Illustration
Middle Tennessee State University
(p) 813-334-1585
(e) tonyrodriguezillustration@gmail.com
(w) www.tonyrodriguezillustration.com
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 present, share, and discuss ideas on how to teach well. FATE members can attend, have access to network information, and present at the biennial conference. For more information on FATE visit: https://www.foundationsart.org/home
Fryer and Seo submitted a proposal as co-chairs for our presentation noted above and the MTSU Department of Art and Design is pleased to announce their inclusion in the 2023 FATE conference in Denver, Colorado. The upcoming conference is at the point where it is accepting papers for the 62 total Sessions, of which Fryer and Seo’s is 50 in the PDF of Sessions
Visit the complete list of Sessions: Call for Papers (FATE 2023) (mtsu.edu)
Visit Fryer and Seo’s Session Proposal: FATE.pdf (mtsu.edu)
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 revolve around creating an original illustration that will be printed on a guitar pedal and then sold as a limited run of pedals to guitar players all over the globe. Students will produce their illustration submissions within a 15-hour window for a shot at victory! Also, we’ll watch movies, listen to music, and hang out for the day and into the evening as we finalize our submissions. (You can also work from home if you’d like).
All participants MUST reconvene in Todd Hall, Room 348, the following morning for winner announcements. The winner will be PAID $200.00 and receive a FREE working guitar pedal with their artwork printed on it!
For more information, take a flyer from the paper holder outside Todd Hall, Room 215.
Work time: Friday 11/4 8:00 am – 11:00 pm
Winner announcements: Saturday 11/5 – 11:00 am
Where: MTSU Todd Hall, room 348
Eligibility: All MTSU students welcome (vector drawing mandatory)
Questions: Contact Professor Rodriguez at Tony.Rodriguez@mtsu.edu
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 latest plans, events, and activities!
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, 2022.
Representing the department’s course areas of Art Education, Foundations, Graphic Design, Illustration, and Studio Art, which includes Ceramics, Painting, Print Media, and Sculpture, the Biennial showcases a unique fusion of art from the department’s many components. Those participating include Erin Anfinson, Michael Baggarly, Stefanie Cobb, Doug Dabbs, Kimberly Dummons, Kelsey Duncan, Houston Fryer, Jarrod Houghton, Sisavanh Houghton, Noël Lorson, Mark McLeod, Paige Medlock, Jimmy Mumford, Jean Nagy, Melissa Newman, Kathleen O’Connell, Tony Rodriguez, Nick Satinover, Gypsy Schindler, Sheri Selph, and Stephanie Simkin. The exhibit is multi-purposed in its presentation. On a basic level, it introduces the artwork of newer faculty to Art and Design students, MTSU’s campus, and the larger community. And concurrently, it showcases the continuing artistic pursuits of the department’s more senior professors. Thus, it offers attendees a full range of opportunities to witness a striking and expressive statement of contemporary visual art found at MTSU.
As a focused student endeavor, this exhibit intends to engage its viewers, whether university students or lifelong learners, in what Dr. Paige Medlock, Art Education, sees as visual art’s cultural significance. It] creates a space where viewers can pause, reflect, and shift the way they see themselves, their context, the artwork, and the artist’s context, and potentially allow a new perspective to shed light on thinking and being in the world.
A reception for Biennial 2022 is scheduled for 2–2:45 p.m., Wednesday, August 31, at Todd Art Gallery, MTSU Todd Hall. Art and Design’s new Chair, Jimmy Mumford, is set to speak, offering his observations on the exhibit, his personal artistic philosophy, background, and participating in Q&A.
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
For more information:Lecture Artists
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 critique, presentation, research methodologies, and self-analysis. Students create artwork in response to their critical inquiry and present it in a group exhibition at the course’s conclusion.
Beizar Aradini (b. 1991) was born in Mardin, Kurdistan, and immigrated to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1992. Her work unravels her family’s story as immigrants and examines cultural displacement through craft and fiber arts. Aradini has been featured in many exhibitions nationally and in Bê Welat: The Unexpected Storytellers at nGbk Gallery in Berlin, Germany. Her artwork has also been exhibited at the Frist Art Museum as part of the We Count: First-Time Voters exhibition, which received an Award of Excellence from the Tennessee Association of Museums. In addition, her work was featured in local publications such as Four Women Artists Reflect on Peoples and Places in the Nashville Scene and The Ties That Binds in Native Magazine. In 2021, she was awarded Best in Show of Tennessee Craft 2021 Biennial at the Tennessee State Museum. Recently, Aradini was selected as an artist-in-residence at Arquetopia International Artist Residency and completed an Andean Textile and Weaving workshop during her month-long stay in Urunamba, Peru.