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

Dr. Read Diket

Read Montgomery Diket graduated from the University of Georgia, Athens, with an interdisciplinary degree that combined psychology, art history and criticism, and art education. Dr. Diket holds the Sarah Gillespie Endowed Chair for research at William Carey University.

Her research centers on aesthetics and artistic learning informed by neuroscience and critical theory. She has contributed to the broader strand of research investigating leadership in the twenty-first century.

Dr. Diket was named National Art Education Association Higher Educator of the Year in 2003 and won the Barkan award that same year for best publication in the field. In 2006, Dr. Diket was selected Distinguished Fellow for the National Art Education Association. Dr. Diket is National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) certified and licensed to work with subject area databases. Dr. Diket served as lead editor for the NAEA History at the seventy-fifth year, 2022.

As an artist, Dr. Diket paints in naturalistic, abstract and semi abstract styles, using a variety of paint media. The work embraces experimental, evocative, and sensorial sources as she seeks to grasp and present ideas through media, technique, and critical theory.