Nicholas Peña

Mr. Nick Peña, Associate Professor, earned his BFA in Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale; his MFA in Fine Arts from the University of Missouri-Columbia; and studied abroad at the Hospitalfield House in Arbroath, Angus, Scotland. He has also worked in the fields of adaptive technology and maxillofacial prosthetics and currently holds the Harold R. Krelstein Chair in Performing Arts and Communications. Mr. Peña is a visual artist researching and developing work that reflects on the contemporary American landscape, the American Dream, and the effects that ideal has on both our environment and our national psyche. Under the aforementioned umbrella he is especially interested in perceived structures of stability (i.e. social, religious, financial, familial, etc.) and the effects of the contrasts between our social relations and ideals. He currently teaching courses in Concepts and Creations in the Visual Arts, Drawing I, Oil Painting I and II, Introduction to Printmaking, and Beginning and Advanced Digital Imaging. Please visit his personal Web site for more information.