School of Art Welcomes New Faculty in Photography, Art History
The UT School of Art is thrilled to welcome two new faculty members.
Assistant Professor Bucky Miller joins the School of Art’s Photography area. An artist and writer who photographs to unearth stranger possibilities for joy, Miller is a recipient of the Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer’s Fellowship, has had solo exhibitions at spaces including the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and has shown at numerous galleries internationally. His first self-published book, The Picture of the Afghan Hound, was selected as one of photo-eye’s best photobooks of 2016. Miller’s work has been featured in publications like n+1, Der Greif, and The Believer. He has an MFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin and a BFA in Art (Photography) from Arizona State University and has also studied at the Royal College of Art Program in Sculpture. He has participated in the Stove Works Residency, Recycled Artist in Residency, Welcome To My Homepage Digital Artist Residency, and the Little Brown Mushroom Camp for Socially Awkward Storytellers. Miller is a frequent contributor of photo essays to the Texas arts publication, Glasstire, and is 1/3 of the Brooklyn-based pop-up gallery Wraymour and Flanigan.
“I have been with the UTK School of Art in a different capacity for the past year and a half. Over that time, I have found this to be a fantastic place full of delightful people,” said Miller. “Now, I get to keep teaching here. What a boon! I am excited that, in my new role, I might help build a conversation around photographic literacy at UTK and around Tennessee. Photography is both a vital medium in contemporary art and a crucial tool for helping to understand one’s place in the world. I can’t wait to see what kinds of pictures come out of Knoxville.”
Assistant Professor Zoe Weldon-Yochim joins the Art History area. She is a scholar of contemporary art whose research examines how visual and material culture engages the intertwined histories of nuclear colonialism, ecological violence, and U.S. militarism. Grounded in art history, her work moves across Indigenous studies, environmental humanities, and science and technology studies to explore how artists visualize contested environments, toxic temporalities, and alternative ways of knowing and relating to land. Her first book project, Atomic Afterlives, Earthly Hauntings: American Art and Nuclear Remains, examines how artists working from the late Cold War to nearly the present moment expose the durational residues of nuclear presence and unsettle dominant forms of nuclear-scientific visuality. Weldon-Yochim’s research has been supported by the Henry Luce Foundation and American Council of Learned Societies, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, and the College Art Association, among others.
“I’m honored to join the School of Art at UT and be part of such a welcoming and intellectually vibrant community. Even on my first visit, I could feel the care, curiosity, and commitment shared by the students, faculty, and staff,” said Weldon-Yochim. “As an art historian focused on contemporary art and environmental justice, I’m excited to contribute to a community that values experimentation and exchange across disciplines. I’m looking forward to exploring Knoxville’s rich arts scene and building meaningful connections within and beyond the UT campus.”
To learn more about Professors Miller and Weldon-Yochim and their artwork and research, visit their faculty profiles.