Dr. Shawn Wahl, interim dean of the College of Arts and Letters, is pleased to announce new leadership in the departments of art and design and theatre and dance.
Vonda Yarberry has been selected as the head of the department of art and design.
Joseph Price has been appointed head of the department of theatre and dance.
“Hiring Vonda and Joseph provides outstanding leadership that will advance our goals as a destination campus for the arts,” Wahl says.
“They’re committed to fostering high-impact experiences for students and working collaboratively with faculty and staff.”
About Vonda Yarberry
Vonda Yarberry has taught courses in animation and electronic arts at Missouri State University since 1989. She is currently serving as the Interim Department Head of the Department of Art & Design.
She received her MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University and her BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute. Her current research focuses on the interplay between screen-based work and its physical installation. This visual/conceptual shifting back and forth is meant to unsettle and provoke questions about time, memory, illusion, perception, desire and physical presence.
Vonda Yarberry has been working in digital media since 1986. Her work, in both screen-based and installation formats, has been exhibited widely across the United States and abroad in exhibitions, film festivals and broadcast media. She has been the recipient of artist-in-residency awards. And her teaching and service has been recognized by many university awards for integrating digital technology into the Art & Design curriculum.
About Joseph Price
Joseph Price was recently the Program Director for the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program. He is a founding member of A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago and spent 11 years at the University of Missouri, Kansas City/Kansas City Rep where he was Associate Head of MFA Acting. At the Unicorn Theatre in Kansas City he directed Clybourne Park, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Well, Painted Alice, Bright Ideas, Blue/Orange, Fuddy Meers, The Shape of Things, The Pillowman and the World Premiere of James Stills’ The Velvet Rut. He directed The Cripple of Inishmaan for Kansas City Actor’s Theatre, A Steady Rain for Riverside Theatre and the World Premiere of Wild Boy, The Musical, book by the head writer of Sesame Street, Lou Berger.
He has directed numerous university productions including American Clock, Uncle Vanya, Enron, Anything Goes, Present Laughter, Boesman and Lena, Tape, The Importance of Being Earnest, Polaroid Stories, Mad Forest and Killer Joe. He collaborated with Carl Wilkens to create a play based on his book I’m Not Leaving, which detailed Wilkens’ experience during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
He is the Artistic Director of the Artsbridge Summer Dramatic Acting Program. Acting credits include numerous productions in regional theatre, commercials and the CBS series Dangerous Curves. In the 1980s he starred as Choo Choo the clown in the Preschool Express Video Series. Joseph Price received his MFA from Southern Methodist University.