Northeast Texas Community College welcomes Artist Tom Morrissey as the exhibiting artist for February. His artwork will be on display beginning Friday, February 1st – Thursday, February 22nd. A reception will be held on Wednesday, February 7th, at 12:30 p.m. in the Whatley Center for the Performing Arts.
Morrissey holds an MFA from Arizona State University. He has been a Fulbright Scholar and is Professor Emeritus, Community College of Rhode Island, New England’s largest community college. He also holds an MPA and CAGS in educational leadership and instructional technology. He is currently an adjunct professor of art at NTCC and at Texas A&M University-Texarkana.
He was a helicopter pilot in the US Army. Tom maintains his studio and art practice, “Flying Debris Studios,” in Texarkana.
ARTIST STATEMENT: I have worn so many hats throughout my career in the visual arts that it’s hard to know where to start. But the end is not near, that’s for sure. Beginning in 1969, I had thoughts of becoming a pilot and a photographer, Any longings I had to fly commercially as an airline pilot went out the window with massive furloughs in the airline industry. After several career direction adjustments and switching my major several times, I wound up majoring in clay and sculpture, painting and photography. A
mix to say the least. This exhibition underscores a path, not always straight and narrow. Some would argue “unfocused.” But I beg to differ. There is a train of thought here and you, the viewer, might figure it out. I hope you do. Glimpses is just that: several pieces that “surfaced” in my studio recently so to speak, visually depicting the flow of information, the resulting expression, and materialization of many of life’s experiences as they have been cataloged in the culmination of my life so far.
