UNA Art Graduates

• Brian Tull (Multidisciplinary Artist)
  

  Brian Tull graduated from the University of North Alabama in 1998, with a BS in Graphic Design. During his time at UNA, served as a graphic designer for the Flor-Ala. He is husband to Alumni Laura Beth (Crump) Tull (97) Early Childhood Education, and father to one sweet little red-headed girl. 

  Brian’s strategically cropped paintings in oil and acrylic are sometimes confrontational and often feature the female figure as protagonist, giving you a subtle glimpse into the characters’ lives.

  His compositions can range from graphic-oriented realism with images rich in unmixed color and bound by hard edges, to true photorealism using original, staged photographs as reference material. Brian is pulled to photorealism because it allows the viewer to notice things they wouldn’t notice in real time, especially with my detailed, large-scale works. Photorealism is a well-suited vehicle for capturing moments that occur with little notice, but are nonetheless revealing in their narrative. Thanks to lots of blessings and answered prayers, Brian has been painting full time since 2007. Inspired by life, completed by faith.

• Clay Bennett (Political Cartoonist)
  

  Clay Bennett graduated from the University of North Alabama in 1980, earning degrees in Art and History. During his time at UNA, Bennett served as editorial cartoonist for the Flor-Ala, and was managing editor for the alternative student newspaper. Bennett has worked with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Fayetteville Times, the St. Petersburg Times, the Christian Science Monitor, and is currently on staff at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Bennett is the recipient of several awards and honors, including the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning (2002), the National Journalism Award (2002), the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award (2007), and the United Nations Political Cartoon Award, Citation for Excellence (2010). His work is distributed internationally by the Washington Post Writers Group. He is husband to artist Cindy Procious, and father to three children.

• Michi Meko (Multidisciplinary Artist)
  

  Demetrius Pendleton is a 1999 graduate who currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. In the art circles, Demetrius goes by Michi Meko, a “multidisciplinary artist.” Since his graduation, Michi has had numerous exhibitions (both solo and group exhibits), art grants, and public projects. Most of Michi’s work is based in Atlanta, but his exhibits have gone as far as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Michi’s work explores “exploring southern culture and contemporary urban cultures and sub-cultures,” and is significantly influenced by Atlanta’s many cultural aspects, such as graffiti-writing and music.

• Michael Nichols (National Geographic Wildlife Photographer)
• Alex Wilhit (Painter)
  

  Alex Wilhite graduated from the University of North Alabama in 1987 with a degree in Art. Wilhite went on to earn his M.F.A. from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York (1990). Wilhite has spent many years travelling the world to study arts and cultures, and his work has appeared in solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Germany, Belgium, Russia, and Japan. One of Wilhite's paintings, Illusion of Red & Blue, is featured on the cover of Design for Accessibility: an Arts Administrators Guide, published in 1994 by the National Assembly of State Art Agencies and the National Endowment of the Arts.
  Wilhite’s Winter Street Studio is located in Houston, Texas.