Art Department | Faculty


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Faculty Biographies

FINE ART

GRAPHIC DESIGN

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Visual Arts Faculty

Mary Ann Culotta Adjunct Instructor, Art Education	maculott@samford.edu	205-726-2840
Dr. Mary Ann Culotta recently retired as Director of Arts Education with the Jefferson County Board of Education where she oversees Art, Music, Band, Theatre, Speech and Debate in 56 schools, K-12. She earned her BA Degree at Samford University; a MA Degree from the University of Alabama in Birmingham and a PhD Degree from the Florida State University. Dr. Culotta sits on several arts boards in the State. She has received numerous awards for her work in the areas of arts education, administration and advocacy. She is an appointed Art and Design Examiner for the International Baccalaureate Organization, Cardiff, Great Britain. Dr. Culotta is primarily a painter often using eclectic media as part of the creative process. In her spare time she enjoys travel, cooking, reading and aerobic activities in and outdoors.
Richard R. Dendy Professor, Graphic Design	rrdendy@samford.ed	205-726-4114
A native of Huntsville, Alabama, Richard received his BFA from Auburn University in 1979 and his MVA from Georgia Sate University in 1983. He began his teaching career at Auburn University in 1982 and taught there for three years before moving to Montevallo. He was a visiting professor at Georgia State University and taught thirteen years at the University of Montevallo. Professional experience includes illustration and design for NASA, art direction for Performing Arts Magazine of Houston, Texas, and design for Texas Instruments. Clients and publications featuring his work include: Southern Living Magazine, National Forum Magazine, Georgia Trend Magazine, Southern Living Classics, Christian Single Magazine, Cooking Light Magazine, Performing Arts Magazine, Scope Magazine of Houston, Texas, Smithsonian Magazine, The American Dietetic Association, Southpoint Magazine, Life Magazine, In Health Magazine, Parenting Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Oxmoor House, Jackhammer Design, Lewis Advertising, Gillis Advertising and Public Relations, and Houston Symphony.
Scott R. Fisk Assistant Professor, Graphic Design	srfisk@samford.edu	205-726-2193
Scott has taught at Memphis College of Art, American Intercontinental University, and Samford University. He received his MFA with distinction from Memphis College of Art in Computer Art and his BFA in Graphic Design from Henderson State University. Scott’s interests include typography, web design, motion graphics, photography, letterpress printmaking and computer multimedia. He began his career in graphic design in 1994 at NetM Communications, a interactive agency with customers in the US, Canada, Australia, and the Europe. Since then, Scott has lived and worked in the United States and Britain. His motion graphic works have been featured on major television networks in the US, Australia and Japan. Scott’s work is part of permanent collections in numerous galleries and museums including the United States Library of Congress.
Shannon Flynt Assistant Professor, Classics & Art History	srflynt@samford.edu Web Page	205-726-2551
Don Rankin Assistant Professor, Fine Art	ddrankin@samford.edu	205-726-2840
Don is a former President and one of the co-founders of the Southern Watercolor Society. He is an Assistant Professor of Art at Samford University and has been teaching on campus since 1990. Don teaches color theory in conjunction with the structure of design, painting and drawing. He has an earned Ph.D. in Visual Communication with a specialty in American Indian Imagery. He is an artist member of the Indian Arts and Crafts Association in Albuquerque, New Mexico and an enrolled member of the Piqua Shawnee Tribe. In 1973, at the age of 26, he was one of the youngest artists to be included in Who's Who in American Art. His work has been featured in American Artist magazine as well as Northlight magazine and other publications. Don is the author of Mastering Glazing Techniques in Watercolor , Painting from Sketches, Photographs and the Imagination, and Answers to 50 of the Most Often Asked Questions About Watercolor Glazing Techniques....all Watson-Guptill Publications. His work is also featured in Painting the Landscape by Elizabeth Leonard and Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Watercolor edited by Marian Appelhof...also Watson-Guptill Publications. Several of his books have been made available to international circulation and have been widely distributed in the United Kingdom, and central and southeast Asia. One book is now being published in South Korea for the Korean market. His teaching techniques on watercolor have been the subject of two video tapes. Don's work has been exhibited in national as well as international juired exhibitions in the United States and Japan. His work is found in numerous private and corporate collections. When he is not teaching in the classroom he is busy working in the studio.
Robin D. Snyder Assistant Professor & Gallery Director, Art Appreciation & Fine Art	rdsnyder@samford.edu	205-726-2508
Robin Snyder received her degrees from University of South Alabama and Florida State University. She has taught art at kindergarten through college level and has also taught workshops, community courses, and various art museum programs as well working as an art therapist in a mental hospital. She is currently the Art Gallery Director at Samford as well as teaching several Art Appreciation courses. Her personal art is multi media and reflects art history as well as the irony and humor found in modern day life.
Larry Thompson Associate Professor & Department Chair, Fine Art	lthompso@samford.edu	205-726-4631
A native of El Paso, Texas, Larry Thompson holds an MFA in Painting from the University of North Texas, and a BFA in Art and Design from The University of Texas at San Antonio. Prior to arriving at Samford in 2007, Thompson served as chair at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas. Thompson's professional work is primarily in the fields of photography and painting, and he has recently been included in exhibitions in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Beijing, China. An active member of the College Art Association, Thompson presented a paper at the 2006 annual meeting in Boston, and served as a career mentor at the 2007 meeting in New York.
Jane Timberlake-Cooper Adjunct Instructor, Fine Arts & Art Appreciation	jtcooper@samford.edu	205-726-2840
Jane Timberlake-Cooper received her B.A from the University of Alabama in Fine Arts with a minor in Creative Writing. She then received a B.F.A from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Studio Art. After completing her studies in Chicago, Timberlake-Cooper received her M.F.A in Painting and printmaking from Rhode Island School of Design. Timberlake-Cooper has been awarded artist's residencies at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine and from Anderson Fine Arts Center in Aspen, Colorado. Timberlake-Cooper's work has been exhibited throughout the southeast and at Luxe Gallery in New York. She was included in the 2006 Atlanta Biennial and in the 2006 Warhol Initiative publication. She is an active board member of Space One Eleven, a non-profit arts organization in Birmingham, Alabama.
Mary E. White Assistant Professor, Fine Art & Photography	mewhite@samford.edu	205-726-2508
Mary E. White is a professional artist who has received local, regional, and national recognition for her work in photography and oil painting. Her photographic skills lend a special dimension to her landscape paintings; she captures the emotive experience of light and mass. Ms. White is a free lance artist and photographer for a wide range of project areas including portraiture; equine art; promotional and industrial photography; nature and wildlife works. She has been awarded area portrait commissions for public viewing, and her oils are in several state collections. Her work has been included in national magazines and art catalogs. Ms. White's entry was among the TOP 100 in the National Arts for the Parks competition. Ms. White's numerous exhibitions include the Smithsonian Institute and the Birmingham Museum of Art. Ms. White has been a faculty member at Samford University since 1989 and, concurrently, at the Birmingham Naval and Marine Center for Limestone College, South Carolina. She has also taught gifted high school students in the Alabama Governor's School and has taught numerous private students. Ms. White serves as a juror, lecturer consultant for art exhibits in Alabama, and assistant professor in the department of art at Samford University. Ms. White earned a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Although she obtained her formal education in Alabama institutions, she has continued her lifelong learning experience in Europe as well as in various regions of the United States.
Lowell C. Vann Professor, Fine Art	lcvann@samford.edu	205-726-2849
During my formative years, in undergraduate study at old Howard College, the teacher William Walmsley introduced me to Abstract Expressionism. His tutelage and the experience of painting for three years with two friends, Charles Hand and Albert Pardue in that back room of the house on the East Lake campus gave me a thrust into the pure abstraction of the 50's and 60's. Probably the better term is the more contemporary use of the term non-objective. After teaching in Junior and Senior High schools I went back to study for a Master's Degree in Fine Arts at the University of Alabama. There, graduate study had as its core drawing and painting. Study with the painters Goodson, Sella and Price gave me an even stronger foundation in non-objectivity. Canvas sizes seldom were less than three feet and eventually reached five to eight feet. Then the classes in watercolor with Richard Brough added the return of realism to my production. I also discovered the area of clay, which evolved into the main area of study for my Master's Degree thesis exhibit of 1966. This was further enhanced during study at Florida State into techniques of crafts and the history of crafts. Then I began what has turned into 3 decades of teaching at Samford University. Since 1970, serving as Chair of the department of Art, it has been my privilege to teach in the studio area; basic design, drawing, painting, crafts and pottery. My own production has often shifted into whatever area I was involved with in the classroom for that semester. Recently this has been a heavy emphasis on production in pottery while still painting 20-25 works annually.