Cary named VSU�s Art Department head

Dr. Richard Cary has been named head of the Valdosta State University Art Department.

Cary comes to VSU from Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, N.C., where he was a professor and chairman of the Department of Art and Art Education for 12 years.

"What impressed me about the VSU Art Department is that it is a department that works," Cary said. "Faculty exhibit art and publish as well as teach�and, they do both so well that the department has earned accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, a distinction shared by only about 200 other colleges."

Cary said he hopes that Art Department elective course offerings will grow in the future, allowing more of the student body to experience the curriculum.

"I believe very deeply that a liberal arts education should include hands-on creation of art and experience with aesthetic knowing," he said.

Cary holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and art and a Master of Arts degree in ceramics and sculpture from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in photography from Goddard College in Plainfield, Vt., and a Ph.D. in art education and educational research from the University of Tennessee. Cary recently published the book Critical Arts Pedagogy: Foundations for Art Education in the Postmodern Era.