For Immediate Release
April 20, 2011
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
(662) 329-7119
aperkins@pa.muw.edu

Graduating seniors’ artwork on display at MUW

COLUMBUS, Miss. – Artwork by 10 graduating seniors of Mississippi University for Women will be showcased at the Eugenia Summer Gallery on campus through Saturday, May 7.

An opening reception, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Thursday, April 21 at 5:30 p.m. The seniors will present brief lectures about their work, beginning at 4 p.m. in the auditorium of the Art and Design Building.

The senior art exhibition is a requirement for all graduates of the bachelor of fine arts program at
MUW. Each graduating senior must prepare and give an artist talk in which they present various works of art to describe their personal aesthetic as an artist.

Artists include:

Tanya Ardoin was born in Ville Platte, La. She is a former Air Force sergeant and six-year cancer survivor. Ardoin also is an avid cake decorator and baker. She was originally a culinary arts major, but in her first semester at MUW she switched to graphic design because she “fell in love with the art department atmosphere.” Ardoin graduated from Church Point High School in Louisiana in 1992. She is the mother of Chance and Bailey Burchfield and daughter of Sherry and Warren Oakley and Richard Ardoin.

Michael Booth of Amory has been a musician for more than 16 years. He has played across the South at venues as large as Six Flags over Georgia. Booth also has opened for bands such as Saliva, Fireflight, Eleventyseven and Wavorly. He is a 2006 graduate of Caledonia High. His parents are Katherine Davis and Charles Booth.

Akki Brathwaite was born in Oxfordshire, England, and raised in Yokosuka, Japan. She is currently completing her internship at The Commercial Dispatch, a locally owned daily newspaper in Columbus. Brathwaite also is an alum of the D’Belle Social Club, an active member of the Kappa Pi International Honorary Art Fraternity: Rho Chapter, Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Fraternity and the Epsilon Class of the Aristos Honorary Fraternity.
She is a 2008 graduate of Nile C. Kinnick High School of Yokosuka, Japan. Brathwaite is the daughter of Rieko and Aldophus Brathwaite.

Misty Hinton was born in Iuka. Hinton is No. 12 of the Blacklist Honorary Society, a member of the D’Belle Social Club and an avid volunteer at Iuka Apostolic Church. She also works as a cake decorator in Booneville. She graduated from Tishomingo County High School in 2005. Hinton is the daughter of Joan Hinton.
Jarrett Kerpan was born in Waukegan, Ill. He received his associate’s degree in arts from Itawamba Community College in 2009 and is a member of the Kappa Pi International Honorary Art Fraternity: Rho Chapter. He is a graduate of Itawamba Agricultural High School. Kerpan is the son of James and Kathy Kerpan.

Candise Padden was born in Phoenix, Ariz. She is a graduate of Caledonia High School. Padden is the daughter of Cathy and William Eiland.

Luisa Porter was born in Newark, Del. She has been a photographer the past four years enjoying both freelance and commercial work, primarily for The Commercial Dispatch. Porter is a graduate of Jim Henson School of Art and Design of Hyattsville, Md. She is the daughter of Ted Porter and Mary Reed.

Lynn Robertson was born in Jackson and is a 2004 graduate of Tupelo High School.
She is the wife of Steven Robertson and mother of Anna Robertson. Her parents are Debbie and Wesley Partin.

Derek Slaughter is a Columbus native. He has been employed as the graphic designer for Stark Recreation Center for the past two years, was the official graphic designer of the 2011 Mississippi Collegiate Art Competition and is a member of the Kappa Pi International Honorary Art Fraternity: Rho Chapter. Slaughter is a 2006 graduate of Columbus High School. He is the son of Gwen and David Slaughter.

Christina Stark is native of West Point. She is a member of the Kappa Pi International Honorary Art Fraternity: Rho Chapter. Stark graduated from West Point High School in 2006. She is the daughter of Karen and Joey Stark.

All of the seniors, with exception of Hinton, Porter and Robertson will receive degrees with an emphasis in graphic design. Hinton’s emphasis is in studio art. Both Porter and Robertson will receive degrees in studio arts with an emphasis in photography.

The Department of Art and Design at MUW offers the BFA with an emphasis in art education, ceramics, graphic design, photography, printmaking and studio arts.

The Eugenia Summer Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 pm, Monday through Friday and is located on the southwest corner of the MUW campus, directly east of the Stark Recreation Center.