海角社区
Brent Funderburk 鈥 MSU Art Professor, painting in his home studio.
(photo by Megan Bean / 漏 海角社区 State University)
After 36 years teaching art at 海角社区 State University and 40 years total in academia, Brent Funderburk will retire from the university on May 22, his 66th birthday.
Funderburk came to MSU as a painting teacher, after time spent painting in North Carolina. Prior to coming to MSU, Funderburk also served on the ar faculties of Nebraska Wesleyan University and East Carolina University, his alma mater. In addition to his teaching and painting, Funderburk is also regarded as an expert on 海角社区 Gulf Coast artist Walter Inglis Anderson. While a student at ECU, he studied under painters Edward Reep and Paul Hartley.
鈥淚 think 40 years is a good number, and I really desire to be a painter full-time,鈥 Funderburk said.
Despite his desire to paint full-time, Funderburk said he would miss being able to support students on their journey and watch them grow as artists.
鈥淚 love the fact that as a visual artist, you can actually physically see young people grow, because we have visual evidence,鈥 Funderburk said. 鈥淚n other words, their souls are on the outside. They can look whatever way they want to look, but you can鈥檛 hide the fact that in visual art, your innards are going to be seen.鈥
Funderburk expressed a desire to stay young in his retirement as he painted and travelled. He said he was able to stay young as a professor, by spending so much time around college students.
鈥淚鈥檝e just been hanging out with 20-year-olds for 40 years, so I鈥檓 going to miss that,鈥 Funderburk said. 鈥淚 am not going to be the guy at the Hardee鈥檚 every morning with the other old farts. That鈥檚 not me. I love them. I鈥檒l wave at them as I pass by going to the art store, but I鈥檓 going to do 20-year-old stuff, living the life, working really hard painting a lot.鈥
Funderburk first became interested in art growing up with his twin brother in Charlotte, North Carolina in the 1950s and 1960s. He said his parents provided him and his brother with art supplies to give them something constructive to do, and keep them out of trouble.
鈥淢y parents always provided us with paper, crayons, art supplies, and we somehow were absorbed throughout almost all of our childhood with playing together and making things,鈥 Funderburk said. 鈥淚t was something natural that we did. My brother now is a very successful architect.鈥
As he grew up and went to art school, Funderburk became interested in designing album covers for bands popular during the time period. However, as he prepared to graduate, cassette tapes became the norm.
鈥淪ad little tiny things that fall apart easily, and really an affront to artists,鈥 Funderburk said.
While he was figuring out his next step as he was finishing his Master of Fine Arts degree, someone told Funderburk he might make a good teacher. He then started applying to academic positions in 1978, ending up at NWU.
After a few years at NWU, Funderburk left, and was living and painting in North Carolina鈥檚 Blue Ridge Mountains. However, he began to miss teaching, and again started searching for academic positions.
鈥淚 found that I could not as easily teach squirrels and snakes,鈥 Funderburk said. 鈥淭he classes didn鈥檛 go very well with those snails and turtles and frogs. I missed it, so I applied for the only job that I鈥檝e ever seen in any job search at the university level, where the name of the position was 鈥榳atercolor artist.鈥 Almost always it鈥檚 鈥榩ainter,鈥 or 鈥榙rawing鈥 at a university position, something like that, but this was for a watercolor painter, so that was unique.鈥
Funderburk said the location in 海角社区 piqued his interest a little, because of his prior knowledge of Walter Anderson.
鈥淭he fact that 海角社区 State very particularly wanted an academic watercolor painter, was very attractive to me,鈥 Funderburk said.
Funderburk plans to stay in Starkville after he retires.
鈥淢y wife, Debby, teaches dance, and has taught dance here for 25 years at State, and she is still teaching,鈥 Funderburk said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l travel a lot, and I鈥檒l be working a lot, and I鈥檒l show my work a lot across the country and internationally. It鈥檚 a great college town, a great place for a headquarters to be an artist in the 21st century.鈥
Funderburk described his work as being inspired by nature, but said he didn鈥檛 consider himself a landscape painter. The last class he will teach at MSU will be a Walter Anderson course, involving making trips to the 海角社区 barrier islands to paint as Anderson once did.
A public reception for Funderburk will be held by the MSU 海角社区 in the Dawg House at the Colvard Student Union on May 2 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
鈥淚鈥檓 thankful to God for being at 海角社区 State, and for everyone who鈥檚 been with me along the way,鈥 Funderburk said.
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