Melanie Atkinson
Department Chair, Painting, & Drawing
Raymond Campus
601.857.3277
AA - Hinds Community College
BFA - Delta State University
MFA - West Texas A & M University

Paula L. Duren
Raymond Campus
Marie Hull Art Gallery Director
Design, Drawing, Painting, & Art History
601.857.3276
B.F.A. (in Art Education) - University of Southern Mississippi
M. A. (in Studio Painting) - Mississippi College

"I have always created things.  Not necessarily out of need for the object, mostly because of the joy it brings me. I paint landscapes and still life.  I love oil and watercolor paints for their extreme and opposite properties. It took me 20 years to figure out that Drawing and Painting are sisters. Color, Value and Texture draws me to the subject. My art is all consuming of me - I get lost in it, time passes, & communicate mood and emotions. My work seems to be active, involved & crowded. I love nature and I am more excited about the 'oldness' (life) of things rather than the newness. My hope is that I can inspire students to explore, concentrate & focus, then open their eyes and minds the possibilities before them."

Jimmy Tillotson
Raymond Campus
Design, Ceramics, & 3-D Sculpture
601.857.3274
BA - University of Texas of the Permain Basin
MFA - University of Mississippi

"My philosophy of art education would be the same as my approach to my creation of art: simple and direct.  I feel the teaching of art should be taught in levels or stages.  These levels being introductive, intermediate, and advanced.  As a teacher I would see my students as potential artists, and most importantly as human beings with the same hopes, dreams, and ambitions as myself.  I would respect them as individuals and approach the teaching/learning dialogue on an individual level."

Randy Minton
Raymond Campus - Photography & Drawing
Utica Campus - Photojournalism
601.857.3428, Raymond; 601.885.7126, Utica
BFA, Delta State University
MA, Mississippi College

"I feel my work reflects my love for the outdoors - landscapes bathed in bright light and strong shadows. Shadows, ranging from realistic in appearance to a more simplified interpretation, add shapes to the compositions. My technique is much like my composition, working in the way I feel the subject should be expressed. It ranges from realism to a looser, more impressionistic and expressive manner, focusing the attention on shapes, figures, and sometimes detailed objects found in the 'Southern landscape'."