Art & Art History

Marek Ranis is a Professor and the Sculpture Area Coordinator in the Department of Art & Art History and a multi-media environmental artist. Through sculpture, installation, painting, photography, and video, Ranis explores social, political, and anthropological aspects of phenomena such as climate change. He is a recipient of numerous grants, fellowships, and residencies, including UNESCO Aschberg […]

Kristin Rothrock began teaching at UNC Charlotte in 2000. She is a Senior Lecturer in Art Foundations in the Department of Art & Art History and teaches Book Arts and Paper Making. Rothrock has an MFA in Graphic Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BS in Studio Art/Printmaking from Skidmore College.

Thomas Schmidt received his BA at Loyola University Chicago in 2004, Post-Baccalaureate Certificate at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 2006, and MFA at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 2009.  Upon receiving his MFA, Schmidt worked for four years as a professor of ceramic design at […]

Samira ShiriDevich is an Iranian designer and entrepreneur whose work in graphic, motion, UI/UX, Interaction, and participatory design is focused on exploring and addressing the complexities of freedom, equity, and agency through design. To do this, she uses a human-centered, horizontal approach, emphasizing participatory and community-engaged design with people as they bring their own expertise […]

Christina Singer (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design from Ooltewah, TN. Her design practice and research center on equitable design research methods, illuminating queerness through visual design, human rights, investigating non-Western design and typography, and analyzing her pedagogical practice. Her designs have been exhibited in the USA, France, Spain, Ukraine, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, […]

Lydia C. Thompson is a professor in the Department of Art & Art History at UNC Charlotte and the former department chair. She has held positions as the Director of the School of Art at Texas Tech University, Department Head at Mississippi State University, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, Assistant Dean […]

Lorraine Turi is a Foundations Lecturer in the Department of Art & Art History at UNC Charlotte. Turi received a Master of Fine Arts in Photo Based Media at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, and a BFA in Photography from The University of North Carolina, Charlotte. As an artist, Turi uses photography to […]

Nathaniel Underwood is an Assistant Professor of Illustration at UNC Charlotte. He received his BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design and MFA in Painting from UNC Greensboro. Before teaching at UNC Charlotte, he taught life drawing at Savannah College of Art and Design and drawing for entertainment design and figurative painting at […]

Malena Valencia is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Art & Art History at UNC Charlotte. Prior to UNC Charlotte, she taught at colleges in NC, SC, TX, and FL.  She earned an MFA in painting/drawing at the University of Florida and completed an immersion language program at the Russian School of Norwich University in […]

Erik Waterkotte is the Associate Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Art & Art History at UNC Charlotte.  He received his MFA from the University of Alberta in 2005 and his BFA from Illinois State University in 2001. While completing his BFA, he studied printmaking for a semester at the University of Wolverhampton in the […]