ETSU Department of Art & Design

ETSU Department of Art & Design ETSU's Department of Art & Design is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art & Design.

Sogol Khorram is an illustrator, designer, and educator joining ETSU as Assistant Professor of Graphic Design! She recen...
09/01/2026

Sogol Khorram is an illustrator, designer, and educator joining ETSU as Assistant Professor of Graphic Design! She recently earned her MFA in Graphic Design from Ohio University, with previous degrees in Visual Communication and Graphic Design from University of Tehran. Her creative practice explores identity, self-discovery, and psychological narratives through illustration and visual storytelling. In her work and teaching, she values curiosity, experimentation, and helping students develop their own visual voices. We’re happy to have Sogol as part of our Art & Design community! You can see more of her work at sogolious.com.

09/01/2026

Experience the vibrant legacy of Gee’s Bend at ETSU!

The ETSU Department of Art & Design and Slocumb Galleries, in partnership with campus and community organizations, proudly present Gee’s Bend Now at the Tipton-Ashe Galleries from September 2–25, 2026.

For generations, the Gee’s Bend community in Alabama has created an extraordinary quilting tradition known for its bold colors, innovative designs and deeply personal expressions of creativity, heritage and spirit. Today, new generations of Gee’s Bend quilters continue that legacy while creating distinctive artistic voices of their own.

We are especially honored to welcome Emma Mooney Pettway and her daughter, Lakarian Pettway, to Johnson City for the opening reception!

📅 Opening Reception: Friday, September 4
⏰ 6-8 p.m.
📍 Tipton-Ashe Galleries
🎉 Held jointly with Through the Eye of the Needle by artist and co-curator Aundra McCoy

The exhibition features work by Gee’s Bend Quilters Emma Mooney Pettway, Caster Pettway, LaShan Lewis, Polly Middleton, Lakarian Pettway and Sharon Williams.

And the celebration continues!

🧵 Gee’s Bend Quilt Demo/Workshop
📅 Saturday, September 5
⏰ 2-5 p.m.
📍 Tipton-Ashe Galleries & Atrium

The workshop is free and open to the public, but registration is required due to limited seating.

Join us for this incredible opportunity to experience a living artistic tradition, celebrate generations of creativity and welcome these remarkable artists to our community.

ETSU Department of Art & Design

Please extend a warm welcome to Audrey An (audrey yoeun an), who is joining the Department of Art & Design as Assistant ...
08/31/2026

Please extend a warm welcome to Audrey An (audrey yoeun an), who is joining the Department of Art & Design as Assistant Professor of Ceramics!

Audrey An’s creative research explores the application of digital technologies in ceramics through the lens of convergence—cultural, technological, and interdisciplinary. Her work examines notions of home, the emotional weight of domestic space, and the materiality of memory through sculptural furniture, 3D-printed clay, and hybrid digital-analog processes.

An holds an MFA from Penn State University, a BFA from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and completed post-baccalaureate studies at Colorado State University. She was the 2022–24 Artist-in-Residence at the Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard and has participated in short-term residencies at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts and Alfred University. Her work has been exhibited at Gallery 224 at Harvard, the Palmer Museum of Art and the Blaffer Art Museum, among others.

An has recently taught at the Tyler School of Art + Architecture, Massachusetts College of Art & Design, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and others. Before joining ETSU, she served as Prototyping & Digital Fabrication Studio Manager and Teaching Artist at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, where she established a clay-centered digital fabrication studio and developed community-driven educational programming that expanded access to emerging technologies beyond traditional academic spaces.

Come join us for our Fall 2026 Kickoff on August 27 at 4:30 PM in Ball Hall 127! We will have pizza, scholarship info, a...
08/25/2026

Come join us for our Fall 2026 Kickoff on August 27 at 4:30 PM in Ball Hall 127! We will have pizza, scholarship info, and a meet & greet. Hope to see you there! 🍕

River the Raccoon is back! We’re excited to welcome everyone to Ball Hall and the Art Annex for another year of making, ...
08/24/2026

River the Raccoon is back! We’re excited to welcome everyone to Ball Hall and the Art Annex for another year of making, creating, and connecting in the Art & Design Department. Here’s to a great semester!

ETSU Department of Art & Design BFA Alum Liz Layton filmed, edited and co-directed this video for the song “Dead End Str...
06/05/2026

ETSU Department of Art & Design BFA Alum Liz Layton filmed, edited and co-directed this video for the song “Dead End Street” by Zoh Amba, a saxophone and guitar playing singer/songwriter who recently joined with Matador Records.

Liz, who lives in Johnson City and teaches art in Kingsport, has an active creative practice that spans painting, film, video, fibers, mixed media, installation, synth/electronic music + vocals/singing/songwriting… and more! Follow her work on instagram at and at lizlayton.com.

Shot in Kingsport, where Zoh grew up, the video is dreamy, sophisticated, playful and exuberant. Congratulations Liz, we are proud of you. And congrats to Zoh - good luck on your world tour!

East Tennessee State University
ETSU College of Arts & Sciences

Congratulations to our very own Addison Mayes, rising senior in the BA Studio Art program, whose poster "Don't Let Them ...
05/28/2026

Congratulations to our very own Addison Mayes, rising senior in the BA Studio Art program, whose poster "Don't Let Them Battle It Alone" was shortlisted in the Prague International Poster Festival! Addison is the only US-based student to have been selected for this distinction! Addison created this work, which aims to promote adolescent mental health, in Dr. Huang's Graphic Design Theory class in spring 2026. To see Addison's and other entrants' responses to the festival's thematic focus on children, please visit https://www.arttention.eu/

Chance Taylor, adjunct faculty and ceramics technician in our department, is featured in the May 2026 issue of “Ceramics...
05/15/2026

Chance Taylor, adjunct faculty and ceramics technician in our department, is featured in the May 2026 issue of “Ceramics Monthly” as part of the Emerging Artists section! His work and writing are included on pages 51 and 64.

Congratulations, Chance!

In the new Special Topics course “Visual Archives of Asia” this semester, students participated in a guided tour of the ...
05/15/2026

In the new Special Topics course “Visual Archives of Asia” this semester, students participated in a guided tour of the Archives of Appalachia, where archivist Ryan Bernard introduced them to the processes through which photographic materials are collected, identified, cataloged, and organized within a special collection. Paired with Dr. Yi Liu’s broader course emphasis on the historical, cultural, and political significance of photography and archive, the visit provided students with firsthand exposure to the materiality of photography, encouraging them to think critically about photographs not simply as images, but as material artifacts embedded within systems of knowledge, memory, and visual culture.

04/30/2026

Join us for “Connection”, the Graphic Design BFA Spring 2026 Senior Exhibition. The opening reception is downtown tomorrow night, May 1, 2026, from 6–8 p.m. at ETSU Tipton Ashe Gallery. The show will feature work from nine graduating graphic design seniors: Sophie Beach, Lacey Church, Alison Condon, Zoe Hartsock, Camille Kurle, Ava Martin, Allysa Patterson, Elizabeth Rowe, and Ana/Adreas Sifuentes. We look forward to seeing you at the show!

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ETSU, Ball Hall, Ross Drive
Johnson City, TN
37614

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