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.

Michelle Anderson - Painting

Dr. Michelle Anderson has been teaching with the Governor’s School for the Arts program for almost ten years. She loves the opportunities and memorable experiences the program provides for everyone involved. She received her B.F.A. (Summa Cum Laude) with double majors in painting and drawing from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her M.F.A. degree major was in studio arts (concentration of installation, performance, and painting) and a minor in art theory and criticism from New York University. In addition, she received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a focus on creativity research from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her artwork has been exhibited both nationally and internationally in group and solo shows including the Frist Center for the Arts, Zeitgeist Gallery, and Vanderbilt University Club Gallery around the Tennessee area. She was awarded the Individual Artists Fellowship Grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Outstanding Professional Promise Award from the University of Tennessee.

Amanda Dillingham - Orientation to Art

Nashville based artist Amanda Dillingham graduated with a BFA in Fine Arts from Watkins College of Art & Design in 2005 and with an MFA in Studio Art from Vermont College of Fine Art in Montpelier, Vermont in 2008. Amanda works in a variety of media including drawing, video, sculpture, and installation with issues linked to feminine identity, rituals, body image and the Skin Ego. She recognizes the importance of a research-based studio process, making writing and reading integral the process of creating. Amanda’s growth as an artist has benefitted from mentorships with established artists such as Faith Wilding, Judy Chicago, Jeanne Dunning and William Pope L. Amanda has exhibited and curated shows across Tennessee, as well as exhibiting nationally in cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia and New York City. Most recently, Amanda was the gallery curator at the Renaissance Center in Dickson, TN and currently is an adjunct professor at Austin Peay State University, Middle Tennessee State University and David Lipscomb University.

Meghan O'Connor - Printmaking

Meghan O’Connor received her BFA in printmaking from East Tennessee State University in 2003, and her MFA from Clemson University in 2007. Since 2005, Meghan has been an active member of Southern Graphics Council, where she has organized and participated in international exhibitions and portfolio exchanges. She has assisted over 30 artists at Frogman's Print & Paper Workshop in Vermillion, SD. Meghan enjoys spending long hours in the printmaking studio getting her hands dirty, listening to loud, fast music, and collaborating with others. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at Middle Tennessee State University, just outside Nashville, TN, where she teaches foundations and printmaking courses.

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.

Samuel Dunson - Advanced Drawing

Samuel Dunson has enjoyed a life full of Art and Education. This love for Art and respect for Education led him, nearly eleven years ago, to begin teaching Art at the College level. Samuel came on board last year as a GSFTA drawing instructor, and the artistic connection to the Governor’s School family was reason enough to return for a second term. Samuel began his formal education at Tennessee State University. He first majored in Architectural Engineering, but soon changed his major to Studio Art. Early on in his academic and artistic pursuit he chose to work 3Dimensionally but in the end, painting and drawing would peak his interest. Samuel has a B.S. in Studio Art from Tennessee State University, and was awarded a Presidential Fellowship which allowed him to attend Savannah College of Art and Design where he received his MFA in painting. Samuel has been featured in many magazines and journals such as New American Painting, and Art Papers. He has also exhibited in numerous solo and group shows both nationally and internationally. Samuel teaches at Tennessee State University, which allows him to continue working on his artistic ideas and live an artistic life.

Armon Means - Photography

Armon A. Means is an Assistant Professor and Area Coordinator of Photography at Kansas State University. He received his BFA in Photography from The Cleveland Institute of Art in Cleveland, Ohio and an MFA in Photography from Cranbrook Art Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He has also studied at Lacoste School of the Arts located in Lacoste, France, and The School of the Arts in Budapest, Hungary. In the fall of 2011 he will be taking a teaching position as Assistant Professor of Photography at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. Means has been an exhibiting fine art photographer and educator since 2003. He has taught at The Cleveland Institute of Art, Watkins College of Art, Nashville State Community College, Volunteer State Community College and Belmont University. Areas of instruction include all levels of photography, alternative process techniques, history of photography and art survey / appreciation. He has also exhibited widely in group exhibitions in France, Hungary and numerous Eastern and Midwestern states, where he has also been active as a visiting artist at multiple venues. His work centers on ideas of cultural concerns, minority identity and environmental influences and is represented in multiple collections across the United States and Germany.

Talbot Easton Selby - Photography

Born in 1979, and raised in central Mississippi Easton grew up in a house of five people with an even larger extended family of storytellers, artists, and musicians. In 2003 he completed his B.F.A. in photography at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi and in 2006 Easton completed his M.F.A. in Visual Arts at Clemson University where he studied under photographer Sam Wang. Easton’s current series of work titled “Root Work” center’s around themes of religion, Southern folklore, and myth. Through both traditional and non-traditional methods Easton aims to create an experience that generates a since of questioning but also stimulates the thoughts of those who encounter his work. Simultaneously Easton is also working on a project titled “A Photographic Essay on the Geography of the Delta Blues,” a three-year, collaborative project that he is working on with photographers Armon Means of Kansas State University, Josh Vincent of Mississippi Valley State University, and historian Dr. John Strait of Sam Houston State University. This body of work focuses primarily on the people and the places that inspire the Mississippi delta blues, which is also known as the “devils music”. Easton is taking traditional documentary photographic approach to his portion of the project. Easton’s photography has been featured in publications like Canadian Art, Metropolis, and Delta Magazine. His work has been exhibited nationally in gallery’s and museums, such as Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum of Art in Nashville, TN. He is also the recipient of the 2008 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award for photography. Currently, Easton resides in Conway, South Carolina where he holds an assistant professor position and is starting a photography program at Coastal Carolina University. Easton has taught and continues to teach all levels of photography at CCU. This includes, but is not limited to, traditional darkroom techniques, digital photography, experimental processes, and alternatives processes. Before moving to Conway, South Carolina Easton taught as an adjunct professor of photography at Lipscomb University, Belmont University, and Cumberland University.

John Ashworth is the Visual Arts Chairman for the Governor's School for the Arts. In past years, he has taught Graphic Design and Computer Art in the program and was the Visual Arts Production Coordinator before becoming the chairman. Currently the computer art instructor in Middle Tennessee State University's art department, he brings a unique fine arts studio perspective to the use of computer technology in the visual arts. Having taught gifted students on secondary and college levels offers Mr. Ashworth a wide perspective on expectations and approaches for working with the talented students in the Governor's School program. Mr. Ashworth's experiences as a producing artist include solo exhibitions, commissioned paintings, portraiture, graphic design and illustration.

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.