“About Workshops”
Saturday, Sep. 19th
Workshop: Indigo Shibori
Indigo Shibori is a traditional Japanese resist-dyeing technique using natural indigo. Students will learn a range of folding, binding, and stitching methods to create various patterns on fabric, then dye their pieces in an indigo vat to get different depths of blue.
Instructor: Dr. Laura Cochrane
Dr. Laura Cochrane began teaching at MTSU in 2009; she teaches classes on medieval art, Renaissance art, Islamic art, the art history of the book, design history, and art history methodologies.
Workshop: Mixed Media Collaborative Master Copies
Participants will work together with a variety of media to create a large, collaborative drawing after a masterwork of their choice. It is a fast paced exercise that creates a rich surface and explores different materials. The collaboration takes the pressure off and allows students to work experimentally in a low pressure environment. Would work well with any age in the classroom.
Instructor: Melissa Newman
Melissa Newman is an educator and Mixed Media artist originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee. She holds an MA and MFA in Painting from the University of Iowa (2003, 2004). Her work has been exhibited in various venues across the country and in 2006 she completed a residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. She has taught Foundations and Painting classes at Middle Tennessee State University since 2008.
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Melissa Newman is an educator and Mixed Media artist originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee. She holds an MA and MFA in Painting from the University of Iowa (2003, 2004). Her work has been exhibited in various venues across the country and in 2006 she completed a residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. She has taught Foundations and Painting classes at Middle Tennessee State University since 2008. Her work includes paintings and mixed media collage that explore the overlap of nostalgia, collective memory, and the expectations of femininity. She lives in Nashville with her husband, daughter, and dog in a house full of clutter and collections. She wouldn’t have it any other way.
Workshop: Alternative Methods for Screen Printing T-Shirts
Workshop attendees will learn how to create their own designs for screen printing t-shirts (or any garment) using drawing fluid and screen filler.
Instructor: Mo Overholt
Mo Overholt is an artist, printmaker, and an alumni of Middle Tennessee State University. Originally a native of Michigan, Mo has found their home in Middle Tennessee. They are the co-owner of the Murfreesboro Screenprinters' Guild, a co-op of working artists dedicated to supporting the local community. Mo is a nationally recognized artist, their work is currently in a traveling group exhibition which includes stops among St.Louis, Chicago, and New York City.
Workshop: Flower glitch oil painting
This workshop is designed to guide and strengthen beginners and advanced students in the fundamentals of oil painting by exploring light, form, and color. Students will create their own flower-collage glitch photographic references and use them to better understand values, edges, and color mixing. The class will begin with a review of materials and safe studio practices. The instructor will demonstrate how to create your own glitch image, transfer your image onto canvas, and block in local colors, and introduce simple color theory. The workshop will also cover how to use your phone to gauge values, adjust for temperature, and create a composition.
Instructor: Sisavanh phouthavong houghton
Sisavanh Phouthavong Houghton is a Lao American interdisciplinary visual artist and Painting Professor at Middle Tennessee State University. Recently exhibited internationally in Italy and Greece and nationally at The Frist Art Museum.
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Sisavanh Phouthavong Houghton is a Lao American interdisciplinary visual artist and Painting Professor at Middle Tennessee State University. Recently exhibited internationally in Italy and Greece and nationally at The Frist Art Museum. She has been featured in The New Art Examiner, The Next-Door Neighbor, and various podcasts. Permanent collections include the Hunter Museum of American Art and the American Embassy, Paramaribo, Suriname. Houghton earned her BFA at the University of Kansas and an MFA at Southern Illinois University of Carbondale, IL. In 2023, she won Best in Show for the 38th Positive/Negative Exhibition, 2022 awarded a Tri-Star Current Art Warhol Foundation Fund and a MTSU's 2022 Distinguished Creative and Teacher of the Year Award, 2020 nominated for the Joan Mitchell Foundation Arts Award, a 2019 Artfields' Painting Award, and 2017 Tennessee Arts Individual Artist Fellowship recipient. She is represented by Tinney Contemporary Gallery in Nashville, TN.
Workshop: Neurographic portraits
First created in 2020 by Kathy McMillan, participants will create a Neurographic Portrait from a photograph using ink pens and alcohol markers. Blending techniques and color mixing will be explored.
Instructor: kathy mcmillan
Kathy McMillan, a Tullahoma native, is an artist and an art teacher in Tullahoma, TN. A graduate of MTSU, she specializes in portrait and figural sculpture. Kathy taught elementary for five years at East Lincoln Elementary and Robert E. Lee Elementary. For the last twenty years, she has taught at West Middle School. Kathy has belonged to the Tennessee Art Education Association for twenty- five years and currently Middle Region co/chair. Kathy was also awarded the Middle-Level Art Educator of the Year by the Tennessee Art Education Association in 2016, the Middle Region Art of Educator of the Year in 2021 and Art Teacher of the Year 2026.
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Kathy McMillan, a Tullahoma native, is an artist and an art teacher in Tullahoma, TN. A graduate of MTSU, she specializes in portrait and figural sculpture. Kathy taught elementary for five years at East Lincoln Elementary and Robert E. Lee Elementary. For the last twenty years, she has taught at West Middle School. Kathy has belonged to the Tennessee Art Education Association for twenty- five years and currently Middle Region co/chair. Kathy was also honored to be awarded the Middle-Level Art Educator of the Year by the Tennessee Art Education Association in 2016, the Middle Region Art of Educator of the Year in 2021 and Art Teacher of the Year 2026.
Kathy had her art published in the November 2020 edition of Schoolarts Magazine in an article about the Frank Juarez Gallery’s online art exhibit titled “Pushing the Envelope: An Online Mail Art Exhibition,” which her artwork had been on display virtually in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Sept. 8 through Oct. 31, 2020. She received an honorable mention in the 2021 and 2025 TAEA Connections Exhibition and was invited to show her artwork in 2023 and 2024. She was the Teacher of the Year at the building and system level in 2022 for Tullahoma City Schools. Kathy taught Interludes at the Tennessee Arts Academy in 2017,2018 and 2020. She has presented workshops to art teachers at the Frist and MTSU during the Middle Spring Event in 2024 and 2025. She also presented a workshop for ArtsEd TN Rural Arts Initiative at East Hickman High School and another workshop at Lebanon High School in 2025. And won TAA Teacher Hero of the month of June 2025.
She was a peer evaluator for the Tennessee Visual Art Portfolios for four years. Kathy presented students’ artwork at Tullahoma City Schools Arts Night 2015 and presented her artwork for the Tullahoma City Schools art teacher exhibit at Tullahoma Art Center 2020. Also, she showed her art club student’s art at the Tullahoma Middle School Art Show at Tullahoma Art Center 2020. West Middle School students created ornaments displayed in Washington, DC, on the National Christmas Tree display in 2021. Kathy has showcased her and her students’ artwork on social media since 2011. In 2020 Kathy created a new portrait style called Neurographic portraits, which the lines represent entrapment or growth. Kathy shares a powerpoint lesson on the style that she shares all over the world for art teachers.
Workshop: task party and the art of improvisation
At this workshop participants will engage with an improvisational art form known as a Task Party. Created by the artist Oliver Herring, the Task Party is a self-generating improvised art event where participants engage with a variety of materials in response to prompts from others. We will cover strategies for thinking on your feet and staying present in the moment while doing so. This activity is great for working through creative ruts and enlivening any artistic practice.
Instructor: Frank baugh
Frank Baugh grew up in a rural area of Tennessee surrounded by woods, caves, and rivers which fostered his love for exploration, solitude, and nature. He graduated with a degree in Art Education from Middle Tennessee University in 2006. His experiences there nurtured a love of the creative process and conscious art making. After college, Frank started teaching High School visual arts in Murfreesboro, TN.
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Frank Baugh grew up in a rural area of Tennessee surrounded by woods, caves, and rivers which fostered his love for exploration, solitude, and nature. He graduated with a degree in Art Education from Middle Tennessee University in 2006. His experiences there nurtured a love of the creative process and conscious art making. After college, Frank started teaching visual art at the high school level in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Staying active as an artist helps him connect with students as they see him tackling the same creative challenges that they are facing as young artists.
Sunday, Sep. 20th
workshop: Dreamscapes in mixed media: creating landscapes through experimental layers
Join this immersive three-hour workshop and create a mixed media fantasy landscape inspired by imagination, imagery, and creative discovery. Participants will experiment with layers of collage, drawing, painting, and mark-making to build an atmospheric world of their own. Through guided demonstrations and hands-on exploration, participants will discover how traditional and everyday materials can be used in unexpected ways to create depth, mood, movement, and magic.
Instructor: victoria may
Victoria May is based in Knoxville, TN. She is a visual artist and art educator working across a variety of media, including drawing, painting, and digital methods. Her mixed-media work is rooted in mark-making, rich textures, vintage ephemera, and intentional use of color.
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Victoria May is based in Knoxville, TN. She is a visual artist and art educator working across a variety of media, including drawing, painting, and digital methods. Her mixed-media work is rooted in mark-making, rich textures, vintage ephemera, and intentional use of color. Victoria often incorporates found objects and recycled materials into these pieces, creating an abstracted figurative language that responds directly to the materials themselves. She is especially drawn to creating atmospheric, textural scenes that evoke mood and memory. As a passionate educator, Victoria loves sharing the art-making process and encouraging others to explore their own creative voice.
workshop: citra-solv transfer sampler books
Attendees will learn techniques for using Citra-Solv to create black and white or color transfers, creating "transfer sample books" in either an accordion or pamphlet style booklet. The basic book-making skills incorporated into the workshop can be carried over into a various other paper-based art projects.
Instructor: susan hanson
Susan Hanson is currently a curator at James E. Walker Library's Special Collections department. She has a background in art history and also designs and constructs artists' books in a variety of formats.
workshop: zine making with risograph
Workshop attendees will learn about risograph printing, its uses in creative as well as functional processes, and participate in making a 2-colour group zine.
Instructor: Mo overholt
Mo Overholt is an artist, printmaker, and an alumni of Middle Tennessee State University. Originally a native of Michigan, Mo has found their home in Middle Tennessee. They are the co-owner of the Murfreesboro Screenprinters' Guild, a co-op of working artists dedicated to supporting the local community. Mo is a nationally recognized artist, their work is currently in a traveling group exhibition which includes stops among St.Louis, Chicago, and New York City.
workshop: let’s make stained glass flower suncatchers
This stained glass workshop introduces participants to fundamental, basic techniques of stained glass art, including glass cutting, grinding, copper foiling, and soldering. Using pre-designed, adaptive, creative flower patterns, attendees will create their own suncatchers while developing practical skills in every stage of the process. Emphasis is placed on craftsmanship and creative expression, ensuring that every finished piece is both distinctive and personally meaningful. All projects will be completed during the session and are ready to take home at the end of the workshop!
Instructor: emmett burlingame
Emmett Burlingame (They/Them) is an art education student with a strong commitment to both artistic practice and teaching. While at Middle Tennessee State University, Emmett has been able to participate in a wide range of creative experiences.
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Emmett Burlingame (They/Them) is an art education student with a strong commitment to both artistic practice and teaching. Throughout their time at Middle Tennessee State University, Emmett has been able to participate in a wide range of creative experiences, developing their skills across multiple artistic mediums, including stained glass. They initially studied stained glass under the instruction of Dr. Paige Medlock and have since continued to refine their technique through independent practice and exploration.
workshop: handbuilding ceramic paint palettes
During this hands-on workshop, participants will design, customize, and build a paint palette using Ceramics handbuilding techniques. There will also be time for some surface design and underglazing if desired. No experience in ceramics is required to participate.
*Participants will be provided firing instructions so they can fire their work at their own schools/institutions after the conference.*
Instructor: tucker webb
Tucker Webb has been teaching Art and Ceramics at the High School level for over 10 years. He is a Middle Tennessee native who enjoys ceramics (especially a handmade mug) and printmaking. He currently teaches at Stewarts Creek High School in Smyrna, and serves as the Secondary chair for TAEA.
workshop: off the shelf mold making
Learn how to create durable one-part silicone molds using affordable, accessible materials. This practical workshop covers the fundamentals of the molding process, allowing you to easily replicate objects and designs.
Instructor: mark mcleod
Mark McLeod is an Associate Professor of Art and Design at Middle Tennessee State University. His work explores the fragility of memory using digital technologies like 3D printers, CNC routers, and generative image models. Influenced by his experience with ADHD and a family history of dementia, McLeod examines how technology can mirror the fragmented nature of human memory.