Thomas Brent Funderburk (born 1952 in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

) is an awarded

visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts ...

ist and W. L. Giles

Distinguished Professor Distinguished Professor is an academic title given to some top tenured professors in a university, school, or department. Some distinguished professors may have endowed chairs. In the United States Often specific to one institution, titles such ...

Art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

where he has worked for several decades. He is known for his illustrated-lecture performances and workshops, as well as for exhibiting his watercolors and other visual artwork in the United States. Funderburk acknowledges influences by watercolor painters such as Edward Reep, Charles E. Burchfield and Walter Inglis Anderson. His art has been featured in specialized art magazines.

Career

Funderburk graduated from

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

School of Art and Design (

Greenville, NC Greenville is the county seat of and the most populous city in Pitt County, North Carolina, United States; the principal city of the Greenville metropolitan area; and the 12th-most populous city in North Carolina. Greenville is the health, e ...

), receiving

Bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

(BFA) and

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

( MFA) degrees in

Fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

Painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

in 1975 and 1978 respectively. He taught art at

Nebraska Wesleyan Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU) is a private Methodist-affiliated university in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was founded in 1887 by Nebraska Methodists. As of 2017, it has approximately 2,100 students including 1,500 full-time students and 300 ...

University before joining the faculty at

, in the Department of Art, which he headed from 1995 to 2002. Funderburk has conducted illustrated lecture performances, art workshops, and exhibitions in galleries and museums in the United States. Funderburk's watercolor series ''New Solar Myths'' and ''Flying World'', both featured in Watercolor Artist magazine (August 2016). In 2019-2020, Funderburk's pieces “Soul House (Red)”, “Anteroom”, “Angelus Vitae” and “Oaxaca” were recognized at several juried art competitions. In August - September 2021, the artist presented a solo exhibition ''Here and There: Brent Funderburk – Paintings and Drawings 1981–2021'', at the Cullis Wade Depot Art Gallery, MSU campus (Starkville, MS).

Awards

At MSU, Funderburk received the John Grisham Faculty Excellence Award (1994), the Burlington Northern Excellence in Teaching Award (1986), the Ralph E. Powe Research Excellence Award (2015), and the Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award (2016). In 2015, he was named William L. Giles Distinguished Professor (2015). In 2010 he was named "Official Artist" for the 2010

USA International Ballet Competition The USA International Ballet Competition, or USA IBC, is one of the world's top competitions for ballet. Located in Jackson, Mississippi, this competition is attended by dancers from all over the world to represent their country for bronze, silver, ...

. Other professional Awards he received in recent years include the Second Award at the National Biennial Art Exhibition, Visual Arts Center, Punta Gorda, FL (2012), and the First Prize at the 42nd Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition, Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO (2015).

Gallery

File:Flying World.jpg, "Flying World", 33" x 34.75", watercolor, 2009 (private collection) File:Intermittent.jpg, "Intermittent", watercolor, 26" x 41"), watercolor, 2020 (private collection) File:From Who I Am to Where I Am Going.jpg, "From Who I Am to Where I Am Going",41.5" x 29", watercolor, 2020 (private collection) File:Anteroom.jpg, "Anteroom", 41.5" x 29", watercolor, 2020 (private collection) File:Rio Arriba.jpg, "Rio Arriba", 24" x 36", acrylic, 2021 (private collection)

References

External links

Brent Funderburk official website

Brent Funderburk MSU website

Video: Gallery Views, Here and There: Brent Funderburk Paintings and Drawings 1981–2021
{{DEFAULTSORT:Funderburk, Brent 1952 births Living people American watercolorists 21st-century American painters Artists from North Carolina Mississippi State University faculty American male painters American art educators