WT Art Professor Appointed to New Position Named for Longtime Department Head

New Alexander Distinguished Professor Announced As Well

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — A new professorship named for the former head of West Texas A&M University’s art department will be first held by a prolific sculptor in the department.

Misty Gamble, who joined WT in June 2020, is the first Steven Mayes Professor of Visual Arts.

The professorship in the Department of Art, Theatre and Dance in the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities was established through a gift from Mayes’ wife Pamela, and their two children, Erin Mayes and Dr. Eric Mayes, to honor his 11 years as department head and 30-year career.

“While his time at WT was professionally challenging, it was also his most rewarding,” Dr. Mayes said. “He developed and supported the careers of many students who established themselves as artists regionally and nationally. He also found inspiration in Palo Duro Canyon and its surrounding environment, which had an enormous impact on his own artwork throughout his career.”

Mayes was a printmaker who utilized photo etching and serigraphy, or silkscreen printing, in his work. He pioneered the use of digital imaging into printmaking in the 1980s.

“Like Steven, I innovate continually, including with my forms, surfaces, glaze calculations, firing techniques and content,” Gamble said. “Within artmaking, you need to experiment with the materials you use. All work I do is 100 percent innovative because it is all one-of-a-kind and unique.”

Gamble said the professorship will support her research via the creation of art for three solo exhibitions at the McDonough Museum of Art in Ohio in 2026; at the Holter Museum in Helena, Montana, in 2027; and at Northern Arizona University in 2028.

“My artmaking process involves intellectual study through research and sourcing for ideas and information to formulate my content and meaning; design of form and surface; study and experimenting with new techniques, materials, and tools to build skillsets; manifesting the creation and construction of a new work; being selected to exhibit the work; and, finally, installing the work so that others can experience it,” Gamble said. “This is research and innovation comparable to other fields like the hard sciences.”

Photo: Anna Lemnitzer is WT's new Doris Alexander Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts.

Also in the Department of Art, Theatre and Dance, Anna Lemnitzer has been named the Doris Alexander Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts.

The Alexander distinguished professorship was established in 2013 to honor the longtime arts advocate, who served a six-year tenure on the Texas Commission on the Arts and was an active philanthropist in the Amarillo area.

“This professorship will allow me to expand my visual research and curriculum in a variety of ways that would not only elevate our art program at WT, but also will help me on my path towards tenure,” Lemnitzter said. “I will now be able to pursue additional visual arts opportunities, such as residencies and art-research trips like conferences and field work, and will make it easier for me to get my work to locations outside of the region.”

Gamble is the recipient of a number of awards, fellowships and grants from the Martin Wong Foundation, National Conference for the Education of Ceramic Arts, the Ellice T. Johnston Foundation, Ruth Chenven Foundation, Marin Community Foundation, Windgate Foundation, Howard Kottler Fellowship, Byrdcliffe Fellowship, Ansley Park Fellowship, KCAI Faculty Development Grant, Lighton International Artists’ Exchange Program Grant and Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist Award.

She is the co-founder of Studio Nong: International Sculpture collective and residency program. Studio Nong travels to China and Europe to accomplish residencies that focus on clay figurative sculpture. She also is the founder of TETRA: Women of Ceramics at the Texas A&M System, a partnership of four contemporary ceramic artist/educators who are dedicated to the pursuit of creative exchange and public outreach through exhibitions, symposiums and workshops.

Lemnitzer, who joined WT in 2021, earned degrees from the University of Montana and the University of Arizona.

She has presented, exhibited, and collaborated with National Wet Paint, the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art in South Korea and Columbia University, among others. She also served as director for the interdisciplinary arts major at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford

Endowed professorships enhance opportunities for faculty members by providing additional resources which can be applied to teaching, research and professional growth.

WT boasts more than 90 endowed professorships, offering faculty additional funding for research, travel and more.

During the One West campaign, about 60 new professorships and chairs have been endowed throughout the University—an increase of more than 200 percent during the campaign.

Both professorships help WT meet critical regional needs, one of the key missions of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World .

That plan is fueled by the historic  One West  comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign’s new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised more than $165 million.

About West Texas A&M University

WT, a Regional Research University, is redefining excellence in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of more than 9,000 and offers 66 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 44 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree, a specialist degree and two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

Top photo: Misty Gamble is West Texas A&M University's new Steven Mayes Professor of Visual Arts, a position named for the former head of the University's art department.

—WT—