Adjunct Professor Joins Art Department Faculty

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Stephanie Pierce

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – This fall, Stephanie J. Pierce will join the department of art as a full-time faculty member of the department of art in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. For several semesters she has served as an instructor, teaching courses and working as a mentor to graduate teaching assistants.

Pierce’s work is represented by Alpha Gallery in Boston. She has exhibited nationally including Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects in New York, The Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, Asheville Art Museum in North Carolina, Art Chicago and Argazzi Art in Connecticut.  Her work has been published in The New Yorker and is included in the collections of Joan and Roger Sonnabend, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the Boston Public Library.

“Professor Pierce has been working with us for six years, and we’re so happy to finally have her as a full-time member of our faculty,” said Jeannie Hulen, associate professor of art and chair of the department. “She has several solo shows scheduled in major cities around the country, and she’s considered one of the most important up-and-coming artists in perceptual painting. We’re lucky to have her.”

Pierce began her formal art education at the Art Institute of Boston where her talent and work ethic earned her a full scholarship. During her years in Boston, Pierce won Best in Fine Arts in the Portfolio Competition and the Senior Fine Arts Award in Excellence. She also attended the Yale Summer School of Music and Art. Held in Norfolk, Connecticut, all artists accepted to the program receive full funding for this intensive academic program.

From Boston, Pierce moved to Asheville, N.C., where she worked for the Asheville Art Museum preparing and installing exhibitions. During this time, her art work was on display in the city’s Independent Art Space.

While earning her master of fine arts Pierce worked as a graduate assistant, teaching classes such as introduction of drawing, beginning painting and figure drawing. She also earned the Top Scholars Award, the Gonzales Foundation Award and the Doris Totten Chase Graduating with Excellence Award.

Pierce’s next move was to Fayetteville for an adjunct faculty position at the University of Arkansas where she has taught graduate painting, painting I, painting II, drawing I, drawing II, figure drawing, and advanced painting. In addition to her teaching duties, Pierce has sat on master of fine arts thesis committees and senior portfolio reviews and has acted as a graduate assistant mentor.

“I'm really excited to move into a full-time position here and am happy to have the opportunity to extend my research at UA, where my teaching and studio practice have grown mutually over the years,” she said.

Pierce holds a bachelor of fine arts in painting and printmaking from the Art Institute of Boston (1996) and a master of fine arts in painting and drawing from the University of Washington (2006). Her art has been displayed in more than twenty solo and group exhibitions in galleries across the nation.