Diane Kendrick,
Chair of Art Department, Professor of Art
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 434-791-5797
Office: Art Building.
One glance at Professor Diane Kendrick is all it takes — you immediately know she’s an artist. As she sits, walks and talks, she exudes her own elegantly composed and graceful style, with a strong sense of color, texture, presentation. Even as a very small child, she says, she had an awareness of beauty outdoors.
“I practically lived outdoors, often playing with mud, and I was captivated by things that were blooming, hanging … by various textures, by all kinds of beauty. “Artists have a different spirit,” she admits. “The way you were turned means you have to live art to be who you are. You reach a point in your life where you say, ‘I have to do this.’ And so you do it.”
Averett students who were turned, shaped, that way — born as people who need art to be complete — often are art majors. They might intend to teach art, they might want to create art for a living. Kendrick says: “About one-half of the students in our art department now are in art education; others are art majors or art minors. Many of our graduates are both teaching art and doing art themselves.”
She adds this interesting note: “When we hear from our graduates, we’re amazed at how they work art into other areas. That is, even if they’ve ended up in fields other than teaching or doing art, they’re still creating in some respects — perhaps as a chef, for instance. They find ways to be creative.” It’s not surprising to hear her talk about art graduates. As she sits in her office, she is surrounded by art gifts that students have made for her, many of them after they have graduated.
“The backbone of Averett University,” she says, “is the faculty. They care about the students so much. It’s fair to say that if any of our students do not have a close relationship with someone on the faculty, it’s because that student has chosen not to do so. The opportunities are there.” She offers a note of advice to anyone considering enrolling at Averett. “First ask the question: Where would you best blossom — in a small community where people know each other, or in a larger university setting where you need to sit around, with no connections to other students or faculty, left to do your own thing? If you enroll at Averett, I can tell you that by the second year you’re here, you will have reached out and made really important and helpful connections.”
Credentials:
31+ years teaching at Averett
Master of Fine Arts, Drawing and Clay Sculpture, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Bachelor of Science, Art Education, East Carolina University
Received an honorable mention for painting, “Weeping Fall,” at the Caswell County 28th Annual Exhibition, October 2006
Community Involvement, Volunteer Activities and Professional Affiliations: Member of the College Art Association
Member of the Southeastern College Art Association
Expertise:
Enameling in Art, Art Education in the Public Schools, History of the Monotype Print
Art Shows:
“Friends,” Thurston Art Gallery, Sneeds Fairy, N.C. – Three women from North Carolina, Cherl Harrison, Diane Kendrick and Sherry Thurston, 2007
“Friends,” Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History, Danville, Va. – Three women from North Carolina, Cherl Harrison, Diane Kendrick and Sherry Thurston, 2005
“Friends,” Sunset River Gallery in Calabash, N.C. – Three women from North Carolina, Cherl Harrison, Diane Kendrick and Sherry Thurston, 2004
Robert Marsh,
Professor of Art
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 434-791-5798
Office: Art Building
“I knew I had to be an artist when I saw the chalk talks. I was 7 years old.” That’s Professor Robert Marsh, explaining his calling as an artist.
In his residual Alabama accent, as comfy as a rockin’ chair, he explains chalk talks: “It was in the Baptist church on Wednesday nights. There were visiting teacher-preachers, and they would come in and tell the stories of the Bible. As they told these colorful stories, they also drew them in chalk. Right there, as they were talking, they would draw the various elements of the stories. I was absolutely enamored — of the chalk — and I knew that drawing is what I wanted to do.” So he did. He started using a pencil, even drawing some 3-D things, and then moved on to a piece of slate propped on an easel.
He’s still drawing — exhibiting and selling his work — and, of course, teaching. “If you want to make art and have a steady income,” he says, “then a small school is definitely the place to be.” He feels that the large universities are too competitive — one department against the other, all the time.
“All of the administrations here over the years have been totally supportive of the arts. Averett is terrific.” Marsh also has praise for the other faculty members at Averett. “What a great blend of people we have here,” he says, “They know their stuff, and they REALLY love to teach! Wow!
“Let’s say you’re a student in Department X, and you need to meet with your professor but you can’t until 8:30 at night. That prof will stay, or come back to campus, to do that! They put their home phone numbers on their syllabus! They all go out of their way to help.”
His endless enthusiasm is matched by his humor. “Art and humor have been the two biggest communicators for me,” he says, “and that’s why I love to teach. I have a captive audience.” He adds that way back when he graduated from high school, his motto, “If you take life too seriously, you won’t get out alive,” was under his photo in the yearbook.
Credentials:
38+ years
Master of Fine Arts, Graphic Art, University of Mississippi
Bachelor of Science, Art, Florence State University
“A Day In the Life 2001” was featured in a book entitled “True Colors: Meditations on the American Spirit.” The book is a special tribute put together by the Meridian International Center in Washington D.C. after 9-11.
