B.F.A., Southwest Texas State University, 1980
M.F.A., University of Texas at San Antonio, 1986

As a professional artist I maintain a private studio in San Antonio, Texas. Painting has always been my primary focus in making art. I have worked in other media and processes such as printmaking/etching, and sculpture in clay, but my love is painting. I have academic training in both abstraction and naturalism and have a deep appreciation for both. My influences are varied both in time and place. I find interesting ideas and beautifully realized work from different historical time periods and styles. My main interest now is in the works produced during the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.

B.A., St. Mary's University, Political Science, 1996
B.F.A., Southwest Texas State University, Painting, 1999
M.F.A., University of Texas at San Antonio, Painting, 2002

James Joffe is an artist and instructor who has been a visiting lecturer at St. Mary's since the fall of 2002. After success making and showing his work while attending St. Mary's, and encouraged by his friend and mentor Professor Brian St. John, James decided to forego law school and pursue his interest in art. In 1997, James enrolled at Texas State University to study painting, and in 2000 went on to graduate school to earn his terminal degree in Painting at the University of Texas at San Antonio. James is a working painter who focuses on producing and exhibiting his work and teaching at the University.

1994, Doctor of Philosophy,Stanford University
M.A., Art History, Stanford University
B.A., History, Stanford University

Dr. Morrell received a Whiting Fellowship for Dissertations in the Humanities that allowed her to research a series of J. M. W. Turner watercolors for her thesis. Two of the watercolors from the series are owned by the Stanford Museum. She has conducted research in the British Library and Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum.

B.F.A., Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi, 1986
M.F.A., Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi, 1989

Influenced by Francis Bacon and Anselm Kiefer she often works in chalk pastels and oils over monoprints. A recurring theme within her work often includes the use of windows or Venetian blinds as portals into the past which is built up and then removed in a process she class "addition through subtraction." The images seen reveal themselves in layers with an uncommon depth that seemly pulls the viewer into them.

She teaches at St. Mary's University, San Antonio College and Northwest Vista College. She has taught Introduction to Fine Art classes, Drawing I & II, and now Printmaking at St. Mary's University.

B.F.A., University of Texas at San Antonio, 1981
M.F.A., University of Texas at San Antonio, 2004

Nationally recognized pinhole photographer Melanie Rush Davis is truly an integral part of her community. Her recent projects include, installations of interactive camera obscuras, participation in Luminaria, documentation of the Pearl Brewery, honest portrayals of teens at risk and the simplicity of the everyday found in her neighborhood and garden. Having studied and collaborated with such greats as William Wegman, Mary Ellen Mark, Duane Michals, and Jerry Uelsmann and France Scully Osterman she possesses the exceptional ability to perceive the needs of the moment.

Melanie was one of the innovators of the Saturday Morning discovery program at the Southwest School of Art and Craft, by introducing pinhole photography into the program. The Texas Nature Conservancy invited this artist to participate in their photographic exhibition, The Last Great Places of Texas. Her work is published on a regular basis in the Pinhole Journal and she exhibits regionally and nationally.

Her love of life and the people she works with allows this artist to document what she finds humorous, beautiful, and humane. With an MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio her specialties include view camera work, digital imaging, alternative processes, and custom black and white printing. She teaches at many prestigious institutions throughout Texas.

B.F.A., University of Texas at Austin, 1958
M.F.A., University of Texas at San Antonio, 1978

Tiemann has exhibited in several states and entered many competitions, one resulting in an award from John Canaday, former art critic for the New York Times. Her emphasis in art is gouache and sculpture. She has been published in Western Art Education at Joetsu-shi University, Niigata-ken, Japan, and was a contributing editor for Art Works, a middle school textbook. She has also written articles for School Arts Magazine.