Art

The Department of Art at William Carey University wants to help you develop and prepare for your life as an artist.

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Enriching life through art.

The William Carey Department of Art offers a framework of courses, focused study, internships, and exhibition experiences, designed to guide you toward achieving excellence in your creative pursuits. Our students have been consistently represented in the juried Mississippi Collegiate Art Competition for their work. Alumni are doing well in teaching, in working studios, and graphic design businesses.

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William Carey University offers degree programs leading to the Bachelor of Fine Arts or Bachelor of Arts. Students in the Department of Art may concentrate in Painting, Graphic Design, Art Education, or a combination of studio concentrations including ceramics. Students may also take advantage of additional course offerings, including a selection of courses in theatre and design. Some of the academic core courses are available in an online format and during Covid the art department has utilized Canvas in its hybrid courses.

The art department faculty works together as a team to create holistic education. Ed Ford teaches graphic design as a professional in the field with a portfolio of clients including the Cartoon Network. Dr. Ford received his Ph.D. from Oxford University, England, in art history. Dr. Ford was juried into the Craftsman’s Guild of Mississippi with his pyrography drawing. Read Diket, Ph.D. University of Georgia, was named Distinguished Fellow by the National Art Education Association for her leadership and publication record. Dr. Diket teaches students how to publish their ideas as well to network at the national level. Jeff Revette ministers to the community through his church, with a large outreach program online. Jeff Revette served several tours of duty in the Mid-East with the military, and is a highly accomplished three-dimensional artist currently working toward completion of an MFA. Chatham Kemp, MFA, Indiana University, brings her outstanding exhibition record and network of artist friends to campus life. Chatham Kemp’s broad outreach into the art community extends many exhibition opportunities for Carey art students.

The art department at Carey strives for a small-town environment within the broader scope of Carey Campus life. The Art Department’s two studio buildings with designated A/C units enable us to work safely in the studio during Covid-19 with small classes of students on site. William Carey University hosts art shows at the Sarah Gillespie Museum and Lucile Parker Gallery.

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Meet the Chair

Chatham Kemp

Chatham Meade Kemp has taught painting and drawing at William Carey University since 2007. She received her Masters of Fine Arts degree in painting from Indiana University in Bloomington. From early on in life, Chatham's life was centered around making art, traveling to museums, and interacting with artists. She is the daughter of two fine artists, James W. Meade who has been an art faculty member at the University of Southern Mississippi for over 40 years and Myra Meade who taught art and ceramics to high school students and elementary school students in addition to being an active landscape painter.

Chatham Kemp enjoys networking and collaborating with other artists through the Mississippi Art Colony and Hattiesburg Women’s art collective where she met artists across the state and surrounding states and has enjoyed having exhibitions with these artists. It is her pleasure and privilege both in teaching and artistic production to give back to her native south Mississippi.

Chatham was awarded an artist fellowship grant as well as mini grants by the Mississippi Arts Commission. She hosted an artist symposium for the Mississippi Arts Commission. Her paintings were also selected to be a part of the prestigious Mississippi Invitational at the Mississippi Museum of Art by guest juror Carla Hanzal. Her work is represented in commercial galleries across the state of Mississippi and the South East. She also exhibits her work at universities in the surrounding region including most recently a National Juried exhibition at the University of Southern Mississippi (juror Bill Scott) as well as a National Invitational at Southeastern University in Hammond, Louisiana.