Delta State Art Department

05/12/2026

MFA Thesis Exhibition
May 12 – June 9, 2026
Closing Reception: Tue, June 9, 4–6 PM

Celebrate the final MFA in Studio Art thesis exhibition at Delta State University, featuring The Table Between Us by Abigail Killian and Color Study and Perceptual Development by Patrick Adam King. Killian’s layered photo works use food, portraits, and spices to explore culture, memory, and the stories we share around the table, while King’s impressionist paintings dive into the language of light and color, revealing beauty in the everyday.

Visit the Fielding Wright Art Center Gallery, 1003 W Sunflower Rd., Cleveland, MS
Hours: Mon–Thu 8 AM–5 PM; Fri 8 AM–4 PM
Info: [email protected] | deltastate.edu

05/08/2026

As we close the chapter on the BFA and MFA in Art degree programs, it is important to recognize how proud we are of our students. We know we will continue to hear many of their success stories in the years ahead.

Here is one recent example, in addition to the graduate school admissions we shared last week: Our MFA graduate, Abigail Killian, has already received a teaching job in photography at a four-year institution in Texas immediately after completing her degree at Delta State. Mission accomplished! 🎉❤️🧿👏

05/07/2026

Congratulations to our final BFA in Art degree graduates. Come join us celebrating them tomorrow at the Wright Art Center Gallery!

04/20/2026

As we prepare to graduate our last Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) students, we wanted to highlight the most recent successes of our BFA graduates. Since last year, several of our students have chosen to continue their studies in fine arts.

Cooper Oguz and Axel Elliott have been admitted to the University of Mississippi MFA program, Hope Redden and Scott Moore have been admitted to the University of Alabama, and Katie Wadkins was most recently admitted to Clemson University. Their success shows how well prepared and hardworking these students are, as well as the quality of our visual art degrees. We are incredibly proud of them and wish all of our graduates every success in their careers.

Arts education matters deeply, not only because it develops creative skill and critical thinking, but because it helps shape thoughtful, engaged, and informed people. We hope that the new programs that have replaced the BFA degrees will offer the same depth, rigor, and quality, preparing students to continue their education in other well-respected graduate programs and to go on as educators, artists, and good citizens.

03/04/2026

Dear Patron,

Happy New Year!

Delta State University has introduced three new degrees that support the role of visual arts in today’s digital and creative economy. The BA in Digital Media develops students’ visual communication skills for careers in video, social media, web design, and digital storytelling. The BA in Arts Entrepreneurship combines visual arts training with business and marketing tools to help students build sustainable creative careers. The BAS in Arts Entrepreneurship expands technical college credits into advanced visual and creative competencies, preparing students for entrepreneurial and leadership roles in the arts.

As these new programs continue to develop, their impact is reflected in the students’ work featured in one of our most meaningful annual events. The Annual Juried Student Exhibition, held from March 26 to April 23, 2026, at the Wright Art Center Gallery, celebrates the accomplishments of our students as they prepare to showcase their work in this highly anticipated event. Serving as a highlight for both students and faculty, the exhibition offers valuable professional experience and public visibility. As a juried show, it features an external art professional who selects and awards monetary prizes, purchase awards, and in‑kind gifts across multiple categories.

This year’s juror is Lawson King, an independent artist from the Mississippi Delta and a former instructor of Art at Delta State University, where he taught three-dimensional design and sculpture. His work—shaped by his background in psychology and his Delta upbringing—has been exhibited at the Mississippi Museum of Art, the Grammy Museum Mississippi, the University of Mississippi Museum, and in galleries and outdoor exhibitions nationwide.

With your generosity, our students gain well‑deserved recognition for their artistic achievements, advancing their professional development and public visibility. To donate an award, please visit Laura Kate Fortner, Administrative Assistant of the School of Art, Humanities, and Social Sciences, at Jobe Hall 221, or mail your contribution to DSU Art Department, Box D-2, Cleveland, MS 38733. Checks should be made payable to the DSU Art Keystone Fund. For electronic transfers, please use:
https://deltastategiving.org/campaign/artkeystone/

Please provide award details by March 19th, as jurying begins on March 20th. The awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, March 26th , beginning at 4:00 p.m., and we would be honored to have you join us. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Cetin “Chet” Oguz (662-846-4720) for further information.

Thank you for your continuing support,

Delta State University Art Department The Art Keystone fund supports the Art department’s programming, equipment needs, and educational field trips to enhance the academic experience. Read More

02/19/2026

Confluence’s closing reception is 4-6pm at Wright Art Gallery on Delta State’s campus 🖼️

02/13/2026

https://www.deltastate.edu/news-and-events/2026/02/delta-state-university-presents-confluence-at-the-wright-art-center/

On display now at DSU’s Wright Art Center, Confluence features work by artists Helene Fielder, Rick Anderson and Joe Abide. CLEVELAND, Miss. — Delta State University’s Wright Art Center presents Confluence, an exhibition featuring work by artists Helene Fielder, Rick Anderson and Joe Abide, on...

01/21/2026

The installation of the upcoming exhibition Confluence is approaching its completion. We are pleased to present the works of Joe Abide, Rick Anderson, and Helene Fielder, on view from January 22 through February 19, 2026.

Delta State University Delta State Art Department Mississippi Arts Commission Delta Arts Alliance

12/08/2025

Storied Lives: Earth’s Whispers
December 8 –January 9th, 2026
Opening Reception: December 11th, 4–6 PM

Wright Art Center presents Storied Lives: Earth’s Whispers, the MFA Thesis Exhibition by Bonnie Dillon.

In her paintings, Bonnie Jean Dillon offers her interpretations of flowers she has incidentally discovered in her everyday life. Reality, as told through the direct transfer of these photographs, becomes abstractions that represent the collective, cohesive moments that all living on Earth must translate to realize a sense of purpose and being.

Through her expression of each flower, Dillon subtly personifies her subjects using acrylic media and often pieces of her photographs. Representative of each flower’s imagined biography, she envisions their moments on Earth. By associating human activities with each image, she expresses the idea that lives here on Earth are more closely related than merely existing. Using a widely varied color palette with an occasional insertion of geometrical shapes, Dillon encourages curiosity in her viewers to experience and enjoy knowing those whose voices can only be heard through the Earth’s Whispers.

Dillon remembers fondly how her maternal grandmother sparked her first interest in art through hours of filling coloring books with her during childhood. Her association with flowers was born out of her many experiences, tending flower gardens and greenhouses belonging to her parents and grandparents. With steady encouragement from family and friends, Dillon’s dream of being an artist was nurtured and allowed to grow freely. The personal satisfaction and excitement gained from sharing her visions with others serve as powerful forces that drive her passion to create.

Location: Delta State University, Fielding Wright Art Center 1003 W Sunflower Rd. Cleveland, Mississippi.

Gallery Hours: Monday – Thursday: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Closed weekends, holidays, and semester breaks.

For more information, please contact [email protected] or visit www.deltastate.edu

11/06/2025

10/13/2025

Delta State University Art Faculty Show

October 16–November 20, 2025
Opening Reception: October 16, 5–7 PM

Wright Art Center presents Delta State University Art Faculty Show.

As much as Delta State University Art Faculty are committed to excellence in teaching, they are equally dedicated to their creative practices—continually exploring their chosen mediums and contributing to the evolving discourse of contemporary art. This exhibition highlights the diverse voices and visions of faculty artists whose work reflects personal narratives, cultural critique, and material innovation.

Greta Koshenina

Greta Koshenina’s work bridges the spiritual and subconscious, weaving personal and universal themes through hand-stitched cyanotype collages and sculptures. Drawing from dreams, archetypes, and domestic symbolism, her practice blends experimental documentary with ritual, creating nonlinear narratives rooted in memory and community. Her visual language incorporates Madonna motifs, plant materials, and family photographs, offering a spiritual lens on cultural and familial identity.

Tasha Huerta

Tasha Huerta transforms digital illustrations into vibrant mono-prints that explore nature and nostalgia. Inspired by childhood walks and her father’s tree-planting adventures, she reimagines forests with exaggerated leaves and playful forms. Influenced by Elizabeth Murray’s colorful cutouts, Huerta embraces bold palettes and the unpredictability of printmaking to evoke the joy of Saturday morning cartoons and a renewed appreciation for native plants.

Korkut Akacik

Korkut Akacik confronts dualities—East and West, beauty and ugliness, tradition and modernity—through provocative multimedia installations. His work challenges viewers to question political and social norms, using distorted audio-visual elements to reflect the manipulation of truth in contemporary media. Akacik invites discomfort and introspection, urging audiences to awaken from cultural numbness and engage with layered narratives.

Cetin “Chet” Oguz

Cetin Oguz’s paintings investigate the human condition through symbolic abstraction. His use of color, texture, and line creates allegorical spaces where biomorphic and figurative forms emerge. Influenced by cultural, political, and religious discourse, Oguz’s work resonates with the broader trials of human existence: the disorienting effects of war, the spread of misinformation, and the societal breakdowns that these pressures amplify. His visual language reflects a deeply personal yet universally relevant exploration of identity, belief, and perception.

Location: Delta State University, Fielding Wright Art Center 1003 W Sunflower Rd. Cleveland, Mississippi

Gallery Hours: Monday – Thursday: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Closed weekends, holidays, and during semester breaks. For more information, please contact [email protected] or visit www.deltastate.edu