Joanna Higgs Ross, a groundbreaking painter and the first woman to graduate from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, passed away in November 2025 at the age of 91. She left an enduring legacy as a Tennessee artist and educator whose evocative, expressionist paintings helped redefine what art could be in the state. “She thought very deeply about most […]
Ever watched the hit Hulu original series Only Murders in the Building? Or snuggled down during the holidays for a heart-warming Hallmark Christmas special? There’s a chance that alumna Delaney Phillips (UTK ’21) helped make those productions happen. Currently a key production assistant for a new television show from A24, Delaney has worked for a […]
While UT’s galleries feature work from many outstanding artists every year, it’s particularly exciting to welcome a School of Art alumnus back to town. Ceramicist Kevin Kao, a 2015 MFA graduate, has exhibited his figure-ish, biology-inspired sculptures throughout the U.S., including a recent solo show at Artspace in Raleigh, NC. Kevin’s work will be in […]
Since her graduation from the University of Tennessee’s BFA program in 2013, educator and ceramicist Sam Briegel’s functional, feminine work has been featured in major craft fairs, exhibitions and publications throughout the country, including the annual Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington, DC. A Knoxville native, her art draws from craft traditions in Appalachia and the […]
UT alumna Marta Lee may paint unremarkable objects – a vase, a pride flag, a colander – but reviews of her work have been anything but mundane. The New York-based artist’s recent solo show at Tappeto Volante in Brooklyn has garnered coverage in major art publications such as Hyperallergic, Artspiel, The Electric Pencil, and Two […]
This annual newsletter celebrates the professional and life achievements of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff. We are proud of our record of creative activity, and grateful to have our graduate program recognized as 3rd among public universities by U.S. News and World Report
In April, students and faculty from the UT School of Art’s printmaking program traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the Southern Graphics Council International (SGCI), an annual gathering of artists, printmakers and graphic designers that draws participants from all over the world. UT’s long-standing, top-ranked printmaking program regularly has a significant presence at SGCI […]
Studying art can lead you to surprising places. For University of Tennessee printmaking alumna Ashlee Mays, it was to a plot of foreclosed land in Knoxville’s Parkridge neighborhood, where she created one of Tennessee’s most unique outdoor spaces: the Museum of Infinite Outcomes, an open-air museum that is shifting the narrative of conservation through the […]
Chloe Baker is a Spring 2023 graduate from the University of Tennessee’s School of Art with a Bachelors of Fine Arts and a concentration in 4D Studio Arts. Beginning in January 2022, while still in school, she had the incredible opportunity to kick-start her professional journey with an internship at Loch & Key Productions.
Hannah Overton, a 2016 UT alumna, majored in English Literature but took as many art classes as she could fit in her schedule. “Creativity has always been one of the most important parts of my life,” she says. As a kid, she would split her time equally between reading and writing, making art, and doing theater. She took photos with disposable cameras, used Microsoft Paint and Windows Movie Maker to create stop-motion videos, and spent a lot of time sketching.
