After 36 years, Vonda Yarberry says it’s a good time to retire.

Yarberry has served as head of Missouri State University’s Department of Art and Design since 2016. She started teaching digital art and animation for the department in 1989.

During her nine-year tenure as department head, Yarberry oversaw several momentous changes. She assisted with helping the department move from the main campus to its current downtown location, Brick City. Under her guidance, the department increased its campus and community presence with new exhibition galleries and collaborative programs. And, Yarberry navigated the department through its darkest days during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yarberry admitted that she had never imagined herself in this role. But as it turns out, it has been the most rewarding time of her life.

“Being a department head has been the most fun of any of my roles over the last 36 years.”

A creative and inspirational “legacy leader”

Dean Shawn Wahl of the Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (RCASH), described Yarberry as a “legacy leader.”

“Under her leadership, the Department of Art and Design has expanded in numerous ways, including new graduate programs, gallery expansion, robust community arts partnerships and fundraising,” Wahl noted.

Yet even before she became department head, Yarberry displayed innovative leadership, according to Angela Barker, Director of Information Technology and Operations for RCASH.

Barker, who started working for Missouri State in 1999, recalled how Yarberry developed a long-range technology equipment plan. The plan created a workflow that maintained and redistributed state-of-the-art computer technology to standard computer labs.

“It laid the groundwork for the technology standards we continue today,” Barker said.

In addition to being innovative, Yarberry’s leadership is inspirational, according to Dr. Steve Willis, professor of art.

“In my 49 years in the profession, I have never known a more conscientious educator with such an incredibly high work ethic than Professor Yarberry,” Willis said. “She has the ability to motivate people to achieve at their highest level.”

Professor Sarah Williams also described Yarberry’s leadership as inspirational.

“I’ve found it truly is rare to work with someone whose first instinct — when faced with a problem or difficult situation — isn’t to bristle or go into panic mode but rather to view it as an opportunity to learn something, investigate in a new context and problem solve in a calm yet professional manner,” Williams said. “She’s been an amazing role model.”

Ushering in a “renaissance” moment

Yarberry said her tenure as department head coincided with a “renaissance period” for the department itself.

“The importance of institutional support under Provost Frank Einhellig, President Clif Smart and Dean Shawn Wahl really led the department to have this renaissance,” she said.

Opportunities quickly arose for collaborative projects, such as the interdisciplinary Electronic Arts program, the Museum Studies program and more student opportunities at the Springfield Art Museum.

Moving to Brick City also allowed the department to expand its gallery presence, something Yarberry is particularly proud of.

“In 2019, the gallery programming was restructured and expanded to twelve months a year,” Yarberry explained. “Because of this, the department was able to offer co-curatorial experiences to the Master of Fine Arts students, which has led to national recognition and accolades.”

With Yarberry’s support, Director of Exhibitions Jodi McCoy coordinated the openings of the Brick City Gallery and the Carolla Arts Exhibition Center. The department also established a gallery in Springfield’s Park Central Branch Library under a grant-funded project led by Dr. Billie Follensbee. This gallery features exhibits that are curated by Museum Studies students.

McCoy, who has collaborated with Yarberry for over six years, also praised her leadership style.

“We have experienced, learned from, and laughed through so many unprecedented, outrageous and humbling things,” McCoy said. “Every situation we moved through was a masterclass in kind and ethical leadership.”

Another crowning achievement for Yarberry was when the department gained National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) accreditation.

“It feels special to have experienced first-hand the longstanding effort by the faculty and administration and see that dream fulfilled. That has been very satisfying,” she said.

Faculty innovations create student success

Yarberry has enjoyed watching her faculty create career-enhancing opportunities for students during her tenure.

“I work with a bunch of problem-solvers, and we focus on big things that help our students and the community,” Yarberry said. “As department head, my role is to coordinate and collaborate on developing resources to make these things happen.”

One result is the Brick City Design Studio, a collaborative project with the efactory. The project was developed by Emeritus Professor Eric Pervukhin and is now led by Design Coordinator Maria Gerasimchuk-Djordjevic. This project gives students, under the direction of faculty, opportunities to work with real-world clients to produce professional level work for their portfolios, Yarberry explained.

Other examples include the online Master of Art Education program, created by Willis along with Dr. Fatih Benzer, and the digital fabrication lab (FabLab), started by Associate Professors Josh Albers, Jina Seo and Deidre Argyle. Associate Professor Cole Closser and Assistant Professor Jen Murvin from the Department of English developed the Sequential Arts track, which has seen its students enjoy publishing success.

Darkest hours, lighter moments

The COVID-19 pandemic became a defining moment for the department, Yarberry remembered. “Leading the department during the first few months of the pandemic was challenging, and it weighed so heavily on all of us.”

The pandemic presented enormous and unique challenges for an academic discipline that works with physical materials and is defined by hands-on instruction. The question became how to deliver quality instruction remotely during lockdown and after.

“How do you teach someone to use a pottery wheel? Or draw a still life? Or manipulate small pieces of metal to make jewelry?” Yarberry found herself asking. “How do you offer a professional-level degree without access to your facility?”

She addressed the problem by scheduling time with faculty to help them develop creative approaches to remote instruction.

“At the time it all felt very ‘life or death’ — literally,” she said. “Beyond the pure contagiousness and lethalness of the virus, if we couldn’t figure it out, then we wouldn’t have any students and there’d be no department. The stakes were very high.”

A more light-hearted but satisfying memory for Yarberry is the department’s “Gnomecoming” fundraising project, which still makes her chuckle. The department created hundreds of small clay gnome “kitschy” figurines to sell, she explained.

At first, Yarberry was concerned that people might see the project as ridiculing the hallowed tradition of Homecoming, which was not the case.

“It dawned on me, in this slapstick whiplash of a moment — what if people are offended? But they weren’t, and it was fun!”

Leading by example

It will be difficult for Yarberry’s colleagues to watch her walk away from her “Art + Design” home.

“I am very happy for Vonda’s retirement for her but also simultaneously very sad for me,” Willis said. “It is with these mixed emotions that I wish her the very best in her next adventure.”

Barker will miss seeing Yarberry interact with students.

“We’d see her outside Brick City bright and early during the first days of each semester greeting students, answering questions and helping them find their classrooms,” Barker said. “She is a fierce advocate for them as well as her faculty and staff.”

Williams said Yarberry’s “actions and demeanor set the tone for all around her and ultimately make the work environment enjoyable and exciting.”

Both Wahl and McCoy emphasized how Yarberry’s “lead by example” style impacted them.

“I am a better person and leader because of my long-time professional relationship and collaboration with Vonda,” Wahl said.

“I am a better director and human because of her,” McCoy said.

To revel in wonder again

Yarberry will hand over the reins to Dr. Mitzi Kirkland-Ives.

“The department will be in great hands, I know,” Yarberry said.

Although Kirkland-Ives expressed some trepidation about following in Yarberry’s footsteps, she is confident the department is headed in the right direction because of her leadership.

“She has been a fantastic department head: stable and calm and compassionate and with the wisdom of Solomon,” Kirkland-Ives said. “The idea of following Vonda as department head is both terrifyingly intimidating but also exciting, because she’s left the department in a really good place, and our future is shiny.”

Meanwhile, Yarberry has no definitive plans for retirement. She said she will stay connected with the department, viewing exhibitions, attending lectures and maybe even trying her hand in the FabLab.

“I’m excited about not knowing what my next steps will be and just being open to exploring, to follow threads of curiosity, and to revel in wonder again.”