Reynolds College Blog

Art and design group attends 2026 Mid-South Sculpture Alliance Confab

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Several Missouri State University faculty, students and alumni from the Department of Art and Design attended the 2026 Mid-South Sculpture Alliance (MSA) Confab Oct. 2-3 at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in Conway, Arkansas.

The Confab is open to art and design professionals and students. “Many organizations support students, but I feel that MSA does a particularly good job,” said Associate Professor Deidre Argyle. “It’s a national organization that highly supports emerging artists.”

Argyle, who teaches sculpture at Missouri State, serves on the MSA board. She co-chaired this year’s Confab with Dr. Bryan Winfred Massey, Sr., of UCA and was instrumental in securing funding for registration and travel expenses. Her efforts allowed several Missouri State students to attend a conference for the first time.

Student work recognized at Confab

Young man standing next to sculpture and holding an award
Jacob Chatfield holds the award he received from the MSA for his sculpture “Overcome.”

Four Missouri State students had their work selected for the Confab’s Student Pop-Up show. They were Jacob Chatfield, Lillian Fitzpatrick, Lilly Johnson and Melinda Montoya.

Chatfield’s soft sculpture “Overcome” won the “Creative Dreamer” award. “I was very surprised and very overjoyed,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to be a part of some aspect of MSA.”

In addition, the Confab selected third year MFA student Gideon Agyeman’s ceramic piece “Daakye,” for its themed exhibition, “Mining the Material.” Keynote speaker and installation artist Beili Liu served as juror.

“[M]y work considers how materials record histories of making and embody relationships between people, place and memory,” Agyeman wrote in his artist statement.

Alumni work placed in extended exhibition

Meanwhile, works by alumni Olga Shute and Camryn Gulledge were on view in the “MSA Select” exhibition Sept. 1-Oct. 3. This month-long exhibition was curated by Johannah Hutchison, Executive Director of the International Sculpture Center.

Shute and Gulledge are both 2026 visual studies program graduates. [Read more…] about Art and design group attends 2026 Mid-South Sculpture Alliance Confab

Art and Design’s Chris Rodgers named to Teaching Artist Cohort

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Artist-in-Residence Chris Rodgers, ceramics instructor in the Department of Art and Design, has been named to the Center for Craft’s Teaching Artist Cohort.

The cohort is a six-month program that offers professional and financial support to artists who are both educators and practitioners. The honor includes a grant that provides unrestricted funding of $10,000.

Rodgers was one of only 30 artists selected for the cohort.

As a member of the cohort, Rodgers also participates in mentorship and peer-to-peer learning activities. These activities help sustain studio practices while strengthening community engagement.

Rodgers’ recognition by the Center for Craft highlights the department’s faculty who merge creative research with hands-on teaching, said Interim Department Head Dr. Mitzi Kirkland-Ives. His participation in the Teaching Artist Cohort grant program, she added, reflects the ongoing dialogue between making and mentoring that defines the department’s studio culture.

Various ceramic artwork items displayed on floor
One of the preliminary stages of Rodgers’ “Illuminated by the Moon” installation in Longquan, China. Rodgers created these 26 ceramic sculptures while in residency at Longquan Wangou.

Grant impact felt immediately

According to Rodgers, the grant’s impact began with space itself. “The first thing I did after receiving the grant was to design and build proper studio furniture,” he explained. “I now have three large tables and a shelving unit that are exactly what I need. This change has completely transformed how I work.”

The redesigned studio has made it possible for Rodgers to focus on a new series of ceramic paintings, a body of work that blurs the boundaries between sculpture and painting. He plans to continue expanding this process by using colored clay and hand-made grog. This process reveals color from within the material rather than applying it to the surface.

“The result is a tactile exchange between form and color that invites viewers to see ceramics and painting in a new way,” he said.

Busy upcoming exhibition schedule

Rodgers will present his evolving ceramic paintings in a solo exhibition in Fayetteville, Arkansas in the spring of 2026. Two larger solo shows will follow in 2027 at the Lux Center for the Arts in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Missouri State’s Brick City Gallery. “These projects would not be possible without the generosity of the Center for Craft’s Teaching Artist Cohort ,” he said. “The experience has helped me build not only better tables but a stronger foundation for my future as an artist and educator.” [Read more…] about Art and Design’s Chris Rodgers named to Teaching Artist Cohort

Chris Rodgers joins art and design faculty

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The Department of Art and Design has a new face in the ceramics studio, and he’s already making waves with his thoughtful teaching and grounded artistic practice.

Originally from Charleston, West Virginia, Chris Rodgers comes to Missouri State University with a passion for clay, community and creative risk-taking.

Rodgers’ work spans clay, steel and cast concrete, often shaped by self-imposed project parameters. “The problem-solving of working with ceramics is a huge part of what continues to draw me to this material,” he said.

Roundabout path leads to passion for ceramics

Rodgers didn’t always know he’d end up working with ceramics. Like many students, he shifted majors a few times during college before discovering a spark in an unexpected place — a hand-building class.

“I was completely fascinated by the material possibilities and uncertainties of working with glaze,” he said. That curiosity stuck. Since then, ceramics has become both his medium and his way of thinking. A turning point for him came during graduate school with a series of six sculptures titled “Leaning from the Steep Slope.”

“That was also the first time I made something and thought, ‘I’d be excited to see this if it wasn’t mine,’” he recalled.

[Read more…] about Chris Rodgers joins art and design faculty

Department of Art and Design offers special topics ceramics class

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During the Fall 2024 semester, Missouri State University’s Department of Art and Design offered a specialized course in Kiln Building through its ART 314: Special Topics in Ceramics course.

Led by Associate Professor Kevin Hughes, the course is designed for students interested in ceramics, providing a hands-on, immersive experience in kiln construction. It provides students with practical skills and a deeper appreciation for kiln building and firing techniques.

“This isn’t just about using kilns,” Hughes explained. “It’s about understanding and building them from scratch, which is a rare skill that opens creative and practical avenues for emerging artists.”

Course uses variety of materials to teach multiple skills

During the course, students worked with a variety of materials, including kiln bricks, recycled parts from decommissioned kilns and bricks made specifically for high heat. Working in the Brick City outdoor kiln yard, the class constructed their own mini-gama kilns — small, personal kilns made of a specific clay body — then fired them at 1800°F to stabilize them for future use.

Beyond these personal kilns, students also worked in teams to build four unique, experimental kilns: above ground pit kilns, a double cross-draft kiln, a “rocket kiln” and a gas kiln repurposed from an old electric model.

Each type has its own characteristics and construction techniques, Hughes explained. They use fuel sources like wood or gas that can reach varied temperature thresholds, all tailored to different firing needs.

Students working with small ceramic kilns.
Ceramics students fire their newly constructed mini-gama kilns.

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Wood firing event creates learning community for ceramics students

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Man preparing wood firing kiln
Professor Kevin Hughes loads the kiln prior to firing (Photo credit: Vonda Yarberry)

Nine Missouri State University ceramics students and ten Kickapoo High School art students recently collaborated in a wood kiln firing ceramics event coordinated by Department of Art and Design professor Kevin Hughes and Kickapoo High School art instructor Joel Blackburn. This innovative program offered a unique opportunity for the students to observe and practice the wood firing process for the first time.

[Read more…] about Wood firing event creates learning community for ceramics students