Dr. Chad Airhart is the latest addition to Carson-Newman's Art Department faculty. He teaches upper and lower level courses in Art History, as well as Art Appreciation. A native Texan, Chad received his Ph.D. in Aesthetic Studies (Art History emphasis) from the University of Texas at Dallas. His scholarly research centers on the connection of historical context, theoretical strategies, and aesthetic intent for American and European artists before and between the World Wars. Chad is also an active artist, emphasizing the expressive qualities of color, surface texture, and lively gesture.  He has participated in numerous exhibitions and is represented by The Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden in Dallas, Texas.

Rachelle Burgett is the Academic Administrative Assistant in the Art Department. Ms. Burgett grew up in New England and served in the U.S. Army on active duty. Her military travel brought her to Tennessee where she now permanently resides. Ms. Burgett has an AS Degree in Business Administration from Walter’s State Community College as well as a BA in Art (Graphic Design / minor in Photography) from Carson-Newman. Ms. Burgett continues to pursue her freelance work mainly in graphic design and photography. She has two children who attend Hamblen County schools.

Ms. Lisa Flanary has been teaching classes in Photography, Art Appreciation, and Art Fundamentals at Carson-Newman since 1998. Ms. Flanary is a fine art photographer who primarily uses the 4x5 view camera. Her fine art, landscape photographs have been exhibited around the southeast. Ms. Flanary holds a BA in History, and earned her MFA (in Photography) from East Tennessee State University. She recently published a book of historical photographs of Dandridge, Tennessee.

Mr. William C. Houston, Artist-in-Residence & Associate Professor of Art, has taught at Carson-Newman since 1974, and coordinates our Art major emphasis area of Drawing & Painting. Mr. Houston has won numerous national and regional awards for his landscape watercolors and drawings, and has artworks in many prestigious corporate collections. An avid painter and furniture builder, Mr. Houston is a man of many talents and interests, and is known locally as an authority on Jazz music. He earned his BA in Art from Carson-Newman and his MAT (with studio painting emphasis) from the University of South Carolina. The quality of Mr. Houston's landscape paintings is legendary.

Ms. Julie Rabun joined Carson-Newman in 2002, and is our coordinator of the Graphic Design emphasis area within the Art major. Ms. Rabun has worked professionally as an architect, and is now an active illustrator, fine art artist, and graphic designer. She has worked collaboratively as an illustrator for five published books, including Revival of the Fittest: Classic Typfaces in the Digital Age (edited by Philip Meggs and Roy McKelvey). Ms. Rabun earned her BFA in Art and her BA in Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design, and her MFA in Visual Communications (Graphic Design) from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Ms. Raquel Kennedy-Roy teaches the Art Methods class at CNC. She is also a full-time art teacher at Maryville High School in Maryville, TN, where she teaches Art I, Painting, and Senior Transition. Raquel grew up in Mexico as part of an American missionary family, earned her BA in Art from Carson-Newman, and finished her MS (in Art Education) at Florida State University in 2005. She published My Art&My World, A Handbook on Service Learning in the Art Classroom in 2006 for the Department of Education in Florida. Raquel continues to paint watercolors and has exhibited her artwork in Florida and in East Tennessee.

Mr. David Underwood has been teaching at Carson-Newman since 1990, and is currently our Art Department Chairperson and the Art Department's Director of Exhibitions. He teaches a variety of Photography and Art courses, including the Senior Seminar course for all majors in the department. Since 1992, Mr. Underwood has been our Director of Exhibitions, and since that time has directed several hundred exhibitions of artwork from professional artists and our own students in our Art Department's two galleries. Mr. Underwood is a fine art photographer whose work has been included in more than 100 art exhibitions and is part of the permanent collections of a dozen art museums around the USA. He also occasionally makes paintings and mixed-media artworks. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Mr. Underwood earned his BA in Photography from Carson-Newman and his MFA from Florida State University. His wife, Dr. Susan O'Dell Underwood, teaches English and heads the Creative Writing program at Carson-Newman.

Mr. Mark Wankel has been teaching Art Appreciation & Art Fundamentals for us since the spring of 2008. Mr. Wankel is a painter who resides in Knoxville. His personal work is primarily abstract and colorful, but he has additional (more representational when necessary) talents in drawing and painting as well. He earned his BA from Emory & Henry College (in Virginia), and his MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.