Tommye Scanlin's Shared Story
What is Your Background with 黑料正能量?
I began working at North Georgia College (NGC) in the Fine Arts Department in 1972. I knew Bob Owens, who was the founding head of the department, from my earlier college days at North Georgia College.
At that time, mid-1960s, he was teaching art education classes for the Education Department and adding a few studio classes when he could. In 1971 he was able to gain approval from the school for the Department of Fine Arts that include visual art and music. Theatre classes, although not a degree program, were also part of the department. Win Crannell was hired at that time to join Bob as the two visual art faculty members.
I began as an instructor in the department the following year and the three of us were the entire visual art faculty. There were two music faculty members then and one theatre/speech instructor.
When I began working at NGC I was finishing my Master of Art Education at the University of Georgia. I began pursuing an MFA at East Tennessee State University in 1976 with summer classes and then was granted a leave-of-absence from NGC in 1979-1980 to complete the degree.
Through the years, the department grew in number of course offerings and students. Eventually by the 1980s we were able to have a few part-time instructors. In 1988 we were able to hire another full-time faculty member in visual arts, Hank Margeson.
Over the years the department was housed in many locations on campus--usually in buildings that were no longer in use for other purposes--so not ideally suited for studio or classrooms! When I began work there in 1972 visual art classes were in the lower floor of what's now Hansford Hall (at the time was known as the Academic Building). We were in the space that had held the canteen and the campus post office. Nothing was done to the space for us except counters and PO boxes ripped out to leave big, open spaces with very poor lighting. In about 1973 when the building was being renovated for the first time