Art History
Professor
Undergraduate Art History Advisor
OFFICE: Art & Communication 244E
PH: 901/678-5317
FAX: 901/678-2735
EMAIL: ccrown@memphis.edu

EDUCATION

Certificate, The Sorbonne Foreign Language Institute, 1965

B.A. cum laude, The University of Kansas, Art History and French, 1967

Ph.D., Washington University, Art History, 1975

Post-doctorate studies, Theology, Memphis Theological Seminary, 1991-93

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Part-Time Instructor, Art History, Washington University, 1970-71

Part-Time Instructor, Art, Forest Park Community College, St. Louis, 1970-71

Assistant Professor, Department of Art , The University of Memphis, 1975-83

Associate Professor, Department of Art , The University of Memphis, 1982-2006

Professor, Department of Art , The University of Memphis, 2006 - present

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE

Acting Chair, Department of Art, The University of Memphis, 1981-1982

Chair, Department of Art, The University of Memphis, 1982-92

Director Institute of Egyptian Art & Archaeology, Department of Art, The University of Memphis, 1985-92; 94-96

Director, Hohenberg Chair of Excellence, Department of Art, The University of Memphis, 1988-92; 94-95

Co-Director, SACS Self-Study, Department of Art, The University of Memphis, 1993-95

Chair, Faculty Senate, The University of Memphis, 1995-97

HONORS/AWARDS

Phi Beta Kappa, The University of Kansas, 1967

Steinberg Travel Grant, Washington University, 1970

Professional Development Assignment, The University of Memphis, 1980-81

Superior Performance in University Research, The University of Memphis, 1984

Professional Development Assignment, The University of Memphis, 1989-90

Hambidge Fellow, Hambidge Center, Dillard, GA, 1998

Professional Development Assignment, The University of Memphis, 1999

RESEARCH/SCHOLARSHIP PUBLICATIONS

Books

Author. Ancient Egypt: A Guidebook, Memphis: Memphis State University, 1983; 2nd printing, 1986.

Editor and principal essayist. Wonders to Behold. The Visionary Paintings of Myrtice West. Memphis: Mustang Publishers, 1999.

Editor and essayist. Coming Home: Self-Taught Artists, The Bible, and the American South. Memphis and Oxford: Art Museum of the University of Memphis and the University Press of Mississippi, 2004.

Co-editor and essayist (with Charles Russell of Rutgers University). Sacred and Profane: Voice and Vision in Southern Self-Taught Art. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. In press, expected, Feb. 2007.

Books/Publications in Progress

Essayist. Amazing Grace: The Carl and Marion Mullis Collection of Self-Taught Art. Georgia Museum of Art. Expected publication, Fall 2007.

Editor. Folk Art. Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Folk Art (University of North Carolina Press)

Essayist. "Artists, the Bible and the American South," in Oxford Handbook of Reception History of the Bible, edited by Christopher Rowland, Michael Lieb, Jonathan Roberts and Emma Mason. Oxford University Press.

Author. "Prophecy Art in America" (working title). Examines illustrated charts and banners as teaching devices and as the antecedents of contemporary self-taught artists' fascination with the apocalyptic.

Author. "Self-Taught Artists in America: 1850-2000" (working title). An overview of the discovery, history, and creations of "contemporary folk artists" working in America

Catalogs/Exhibitions (curator, essayist)

Essayist. "I've been to the Mountaintop: Prints and Sculpture by Richard Hunt." Catalog to the exhibition of the same name. Memphis: Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, 1990.

Essayist. " Myrtice West, The 'Revelation' Series, and the End-Time." Catalog to the exhibition "Revelation: The Paintings of Myrtice West." Memphis: Art Museum of the University of Memphis, 1995.

Supervising curator and editor. "Noah's Art: Animals by Southern Self-Taught Artists." Catalog to the exhibition of the same name. Memphis: Art Museum of The University of Memphis, 1998.

Educational consultant and essayist. "Revelations and Reflections of American Self-Taught Artists." A traveling exhibition organized by Exhibits USA, 2002-2005.

Curator. "Coming Home: Self-Taught Artists, The Bible, and the American South." A traveling exhibition with book. Opened at the Art Museum of the University of Memphis in 2004 and traveled in 2005 to the Museum of Fine Art, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida and the Museum of Biblical Art, New York City. Reviewed in Artforum (October 2005)

Refereed Journal Publications (includes book chapters)

"A Bronze Medallion by Guillaume Dupre." Search. Lawrence: University of Kansas, 1967.

"The Winchester Psalter and l' Enfance du Christ Window at St. Denis." Burlington Magazine CXVII, 863 (February, 1975): 79-83.

Co-editor. Interpretations, A Journal of Ideas, Analysis, and Criticism 13, 2, (spring, 1982).

Non-refereed publications
"The Memphis State University Egyptian Collection." Interpretations 13, 2 (Spring, 1982): 1-26.

Invited essayist. "A Divine Tour of Ancient Egypt: Memphis State University and the Memphis Connection." Southeastern College Art Conference, SECAC Review X, 4 (1984): 196-200.

Invited essayist. "A Study in 'Mellon-cholia': The Artist as Grantsman," Professional Opportunities in the Southeast, R. Earl Cleveland, ed. Carson-Newman College: Jefferson City, TN, 1987.

Invited essayist. "The Memphis State University Department of Art." Atelier South (July 1988).

Invited essayist. "The End of the World with Reverend Howard Finster." The Oxford American Journal 19 (December 1998): 38-39.

Invited essayist. "A Continuing Revelation: Religious Vision In Southern Self-Taught Art." Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion 24 (Winter 1999): 29-41.

Book chapter. "The Revelations Series: Divinely Inspired, Evangelically Conceived." Wonders to Behold. The Visionary Paintings of Myrtice West.. Memphis: Mustang Publishers, 1999: 18-43.

Invited essayist. "Paradise Revisited: The Desecration and Reclamation of Howard Finster's Paradise Garden." [Cover article] Number, Inc.: An Independent Journal of the Arts 39 (Summer 2001): 28-33.

Invited essayist. "Who Made These Charts? The Legacy of the Adventists." The Outsider, a publication of Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art 6, 2 (Winter 02): 12-15. Reprinted as 'The End of the World, 1843: Millerite Art." Cornerstone Magazine Online. Http://www. cornerstonemag.com/cart/Millerite-art/.

Invited essayist. "Inside Outside Art." Number, Inc.: An Independent Journal of the Arts 41 (Summer 2002): 6-8; and No. 42 (Fall 2003): 8-9.

Invited essayist. "Inside Outside Art." Number, Inc.: An Independent Journal of the Arts 42 (Fall 2003): 8-9.

Invited essayist. "Joe Minter's African Village." [Cover article] Number, Inc: An Independent Journal of the Arts .43 (Winter 2003): 10-11.

Invited essayist. "Contemporary Folk Art in the Academic Setting." Envision 9, I (Jan. 2004): 14-17.

Invited essayist. "Coming Home! Self-Taught Artists, the Bible, and the American South." Folk Art Messenger, 16, 3 (Winter 2004): 16-17

Invited essayist. "Coming Home! Self-Taught Artists, the Bible, and the American South." Folk Art, Magazine of the American Folk Art Museum 29, 1-2 (Spring/Summer 2004): 54-61.

Invited essayist. "Tradition and Innovation," from "A Symposium: Towards a Definition of Folk Art." The Dial, A Philosophic Art Journal (Winter 2005): 22-24.

Entries for Encyclopedias

Invited. "Religious Imagery" and "Folk Art" Encyclopedia of Appalachia. Center for Appalachian Studies and Services. East Tennessee State University (Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press, May 2006).

Invited. "Sister Gertrude Morgan." Encyclopedia of Religion in the South, 2nd ed., rev. (Macon: Mercer Press, June 2005).

Book Reviews

Invited. "Engrossing Texts Enrich and Clarify Stories of Genesis," Rev. of Genesis: Translation and Commentary by Robert Alter and Genesis: A New Translation of the Classic Biblical Stories by Stephen Mitchell, The Commercial Appeal 29 December 1996: G3.

Invited. "Prophecy, Art, and Shaker "Gift" Drawings." Art History 26, 4 (September 2003): 602-605. A review of Heavenly Visions: Shaker Gift Drawings and Gift Songs. ed. France Morin, University of Minnesota Press, 2001.

Invited. "An Old Man Has Visions by Mary Kennedy Hendershot." Folk Art Messenger, 18, 2 (Winter 2006): 37

Obits Jas Johns (1941-2003), Folk Art Messenger 16, 2 (Winter 2004): 37.

Hawkins Bolden (1914-2005), Folk Art Messenger 17, 3 (Spring 2004): 31.

"Joe Louis Light 1934-2005." Folk Art Messenger 18, 1 (Summer/Fall 2005): 32-33

PRESENTATIONS

Conference Presentations

Paper. "An Enthroned Madonna and Child in the Winchester Psalter." Southeastern College Art Conference, Atlanta, October 1979 (Abstract, SECAC Review, 1980).

Panel Chair. "The Spiritual in Contemporary Art." In conjunction with an exhibition of works of art by New York artist Tony Moore in the Art Museum of the University of Memphis. Fall, 1990.

Paper. "The Sacred Art of Howard Finster and the Theological Teachings of Christian Fundamentalism." Southeastern College Art Conference. Charleston, October 1996 (Abstract, SECAC Review, 1996).

Paper. "Prophecy and the Apocalyptic in the Art of Howard Finster." Southeastern Council on Studies in Religion. Macon, GA. March 1997.

Paper. "Howard Finster's Paradise Garden and the World's Folk Art Church: Earthly Reflections of the New Heavens and Earth." Sixth International and Interdisciplinary Built Form and Culture Conference, School of Architecture and Interior Design: "Making Sacred Spaces." University of Cincinnati, October 1997.

Paper. "The New Jerusalem: Visions of the Sacred City in Self-Taught Art." American Academy of Religion. San Francisco, November 1997.

Paper. "Heaven on Earth: Rev. Howard Finster's Paradise Garden and World's Folk Art Church." Southeastern College Art Conference. Miami, October 1998 (Abstract, SECAC Review, 1998).

Paper. "Rev. Howard Finster: Preaching the Bible and God's Holy Kingdom," Image Scholarly Conference. Jackson, November 1999.

Paper. "Southern Self-Taught Art: Edging into the Mainstream." Global Arts Beyond 2000. Auckland,
New Zealand, October 1999.

Paper. "Looking for Jerusalem: Sacred City and Sacred Meaning in the Art of Myrtice West and Howard Finster." Southeastern College Art Conference. Louisville, October 2000 (Abstract, SECAC Review, 2000).

Paper. "Preaching the Second Coming: Self-taught Artists and an American Religious Tradition," Southeastern College Art Conference. Columbia, SC. October 2001 (Abstract, SECAC Review, 2001).

Panel Chair. "American Art." Southeastern College Art Conference. Columbia, SC., Fall 2001.

Panel Chair. "Purpose, Meaning, Context, and the Work of Self-taught Artists." College Art Association. Philadelphia, PA, 2002 (Abstract, CAA Abstracts, 2002).

Panel Chair. "Contemporary Folk, Self Taught, and Outsider Artists." Southeastern College Art Conference. Mobile, 2002 (Abstract, SECAC Review, 2002].

Paper. "Grounded in Religion: Myrtice West and Howard Finster, Two Southern Self-Taught Artists." American Academy of Religion. Atlanta, GA, November 2003.

Panel Chair. "Contemporary Folk, Self-Taught, and Outsider Artists. " Southeastern College Art Conference. Raleigh, NC, 2003. (Abstract, SECAC Review, forthcoming).

Panel Co-Chair. "Contemporary Folk, Self-Taught and Outsider Art" (two-panel session). Southeastern College Art Conference. Jacksonville, FL, October 2004. (Abstract, SECAC Review, forthcoming).

Paper. "Coming Home! Self-Taught Artists, the Bible and the American South: The Audience's Response." Southeastern College Art Conference. Jacksonville, FL, 2004. (Abstract, SECAC Review, forthcoming).

Symposium Chair and Participant, "Conversations on Contemporary Folk Art." The University of Memphis. Memphis, September 2004.

Panel Chair, "Contemporary Folk, Self-Taught and Outsider Art." Southeastern College Art Conference. Little Rock, October 2005.

Invited Professional Lectures/Presentations/Symposia
Invited Feature Lecture. "Myrtice West: The Historical Context." Folk Art Festival. Atlanta, GA. 2000.

Invited Lecture. "Prophecy ChART: Am American Tradition." Intuit: Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art. Chicago, January 2002.

Invited Lecture. "Contemporary Folk Art: Terms, History, and Context." Dorothy Sturm Annual Art Lecture, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Memphis, May 2002.

Invited Speaker. "Uncommon Artists Symposium." American Folk Art Museum and New York University. New York, January 2003.

Invited Lecture. "Preaching the Apocalypse." Symposium on the Apocalypse sponsored by Imago Dei, Friends of Christianity and the Arts, St. Paul's Seminary. Kansas City, January 2004.

Invited Lecture. "Broadcasting God's Word: The Preaching Tools of Sister Gertrude Morgan." American Folk Art Museum. New York, Spring 2004.

Invited Lecture. Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word. Humanities Tennessee. Memphis, May 10, 2004.

Invited Lecturer. "American Anthem: The Art of Prophecy." Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, Spring 2005.

Invited Panelist: "Apocalypse Now: End-time Influences on the Art, Music and Literature of the Contemporary South." Museum of Biblical Art, Tuesday, May 10, 2005. Other panelists: Charles Reagan Wilson, Babatunde Lawal, and Charles Strozier.

Invited Panelist. "Revelation and Reflections." In conjunction with an exhibition of the same name, East Texas State Museum. Belmont, Texas, June 2005.

GRANTS

Divine Tour of Ancient Egypt, Tennessee Humanities Council (THC), $34,000.00, 1983-84

Divine Tour of Ancient Egypt, Union Planters Bank, $40,000.00, 1983

Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology, Private funding, $500,000.00, 1984-

Center of Excellence in Egyptian Art, State of Tennessee, $250,000.00, 1985-

Spirit of Samurai (Art Exhibit), THC, $6,766.00, 1986-87

Journeys of the Spirit (Art Exhibit), Northwest Airlines, $10,000.00, 1986-87

Chair of Excellence in Art History, Hohenberg Family/State of Tennessee, $1.250.000.00, 1988

Apocalypse! (Art Exhibit), THC, $20,000.00, 1988-99

Coming Home! (Art Exhibit and Book), National Endowment for the Arts, $29,000.00, 2001-2004

Coming Home! (Art Exhibit and Book), Rockefeller Foundation, $20,000.00, 2002-2004

Coming Home! (Art Exhibit), First Tennessee Bravo! Award, $10,000.00, 2003-2004

Coming Home! (Art Exhibit), Durham Foundation, 5,000.00, 2004

Coming Home! (Art Exhibit), Tennessee Arts Commission, $5,000.00, 2004

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY/ORGANIZATIONS

National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), 1989-95

NASAD Research Committee, 1989-91

NASAD Commission on Accreditation, 1990-93; 1993-97

NASAD Accreditation Teams. Chair
Valdosta State College, 1990
Montevallo University, 1992
Siena Heights College, 1992
California Sate University, Sacramento, 1994
Columbia State College, 1995

NASAD Accreditation Teams. Member
Mississippi State University, 1985
St. Olaf's College, 1986
SUNY Fredonia, 1989
Georgia State University, 1990
Studio Art International, Florence, Italy, 1994
University of Akron, 1995

NASAD Consultant
Arkansas State University, 1988
Mississippi State University, 1993
National Council of Art Administrators (NCAA), 1982-92

NCAA Treasurer, 1986-88

NCAA Executive Board, 1986-88

NCAA Conference Chair (hosted in Memphis), 1988

NCAA Planning Committee, 1990

Tennessee Arts Commission (TAC) Arts-in Education Panel, 1986-91

TAC Arts-in Education Panel. Chair, 1989,1990

Tennessee Arts Academy. Advisory Committee, 1987-90

Tennessee Department of Education. Advisory Council

Teacher Education and Certification Committee, 1987-88

Tennessee Humanities Council (THC). Board, 1990-96

THC Executive Committee,1992-95

SACS Accreditation Team, Un. of Kentucky, 1992-93

National Committee for Standards in the Arts, 1992-92

Number: An Independent Journal of the Arts Board Member and Secretary, 2001-ongoing

National Advisory Board, Folk Art Society of America, 2003-ongoing

International Advisory Board Nek Chand Foundation, 2004-ongoing

Tennessee Art Council's Folklife Grant Committee, 2004-2005

Southeastern College Art Conference Board, 2004-ongoing

PROFESSIONAL PAPERS/CONFERENCES/OTHER ACTIVITIES

Panel Participant. "A Southern Arts Network." Southeastern College Art Conference, Birmingham, 1980

Panel Participant. "Three Approaches to Being a Woman Professional in the Visual Arts." Network of Memphis, 1984

Panel Participant. "Developing External Programs of Funding." Southeastern College Art Conference, New Orleans, (Abstract, SECAC Review 1986). 1985

Panel Moderator. "Art Administration Internships." NCAA. Santa Fe,1986

Panel Chair. "Art and Museums," American Research Center in Egypt. Memphis, 1987

Panel Participant. "A Study in 'Mellon-cholia': The Artist as Grantsman," Professional Opportunities in the Southeast, Southeastern College Art Conference, Knoxville (Abstract, SECAC Review, 1988. 1987

Panel Co-Chair. "Philanthropy and Professional Education." NASAD Annual Meeting. San Diego, 1988

Conference Chair. NCAA Annual Conference. Memphis, 1988

Panel Participant. "Workshop for Experienced Evaluators." NASAD Annual Meeting Indianapolis, 1989

Participant. National Endowment for the Humanities Conference for State Humanities Board Members, Washington D.C., 1991

Panel Chair. "Orientation to NASAD: A Session for Newcomers." NASAD. Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, 1990; and Dearborn, 1991, 1990 and 1991

Panel Chair. "Workshop for Evaluators," NASAD Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, 1993