Faculty

Associate Professor of Visual Arts

Biography

Sara Fletcher is an artist who works toward finding connections between art and faith, and art and other disciplines, and she is pleased to join the Concordia community. She has been teaching art and art history in the Midwest, and is an exhibiting artist who had a 2019 one person show at Prince Street Gallery in New York, NY. She also illustrated the children’s book Blue Lake Days by Sarah Shey.

Her paintings, drawings, and prints depict people and things in the process of growth, exploring how observations of nature and imagination affect each other. She aims in both her art and teaching to offer a compelling experience of God's beauty to one's neighbors.

Education

• MFA, Painting, The University of Iowa, 2006
• Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Painting, Brandeis University, 2003

Visual Arts Department Chair

Biography

Professor of graphic design, Soo teaches digital image manipulation, digital illustration, typography, and graphic design classes. Utilizing both traditional and digital media, Soo creates artwork which investigates issues of identity and culture. A variety of media are used for self-discovery by examining memories, perceptions and personal relationships.

Education

• B.F.A. in Commercial Art at Concordia University, Seward, Nebraska, 2001
• M.F.A. in Integrated Visual Art, at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 2004

Teaching

• Digital Publishing
• Digital Image Manipulation
• Digital Illustration
• Graphic Design 1
• Graphic Design 2
• Graphic Design 3
• Typography 1
• Typography 2

Adjunct Art Professor

Biography

I am passionate about painting and teaching. My work is a representation of ordinary objects and interior spaces--a nexus of daily ritual and painting as spiritual practice. I work in oil and other drawing media and artworks range in size from large canvases to small panels. In the classroom, I find inspiration from my students and delight in coming alongside them as they become makers and creative problem-solvers.

Education

• MFA, Laguna College of Art + Design
• BFA, Evangel University

Publications

• 2015 Kari Dunham, SEEN Journal, Christians in the Visual Arts, 2015, XV:2, 27
• 2014 Kari Dunham, [Group exhibition catalogue], California Dreaming: An International Portrait of Southern California. Oceanside Museum of Art. Oceanside, CA
• 2014 Bonnie Gangelhoff, "Kari Dunham: Telling her story," Southwest Art, September 2014, Volume 44, No.4. 20.

Teaching

• Drawing 1 (ART 201)
• Painting (ART 321)

Adjunct Professor of Art and Art History

Biography

I have been making art, mostly painting, for about 35 years. I have been teaching Art and Art History for about 25 years. I have been a museum guide, a muralist, a lecturer, a curator, a designer--really just about anything having to do with art.

Education

• MFA, Queens College, City University of New York
• BFA, Massachusetts College of Art

Teaching

• Experiences in Art (ART-111)
• Drawing 1 (ART-201)
• History of Contemporary Art (ART-315)

Professor of Art

Biography

Practice consists of sculpture, performance, video and ceramics. Lives and works in San Pedro.

Education

• MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2014
• BS from Biola University, 2002

Teaching

• Ceramics 1 and 2 and 3-D design

Adjunct Art Professor

Biography

Dawn Nicole Hamby is an interdisciplinary artist who works in a wide range of media. She has taught young artists of all ages and abilities and loves helping students to discover their God-given creativity and to better understand their relationship with God as creations of the Master Artist. She currently leads the Visual & Media Arts Department and Arts Academy at Orange Lutheran High School and teaches art education courses at local universities.

Education

• M.A.T.: 2010, Biola University
• B.F.A.: 2006, Biola University, Studio Arts: Interdisciplinary

Adjunct Professor

Biography

Holding a Bachelors of Arts in Graphic Design From California State University San Bernardino, Jeremy Holden is a Creative Specialist, specializing in the fields of Graphic Design, Illustration, Animation & Photography. Currently teach in the Digital Media Arts Department at Irvine Valley College and in Visual Arts Department with Concordia University Irvine.

Jeremy hopes that by sharing his creative knowledge, he can guide future designers/artists to follow their dreams & train them to become responsible designers/artists, because with great design comes the great responsibility to communicate effectively with the world.

Education

• Bachelor of Arts-Graphic Design: California State University San Bernardino

Teaching

• ART 472 -Web Design 1
• ART 481-Digital Photography

Adjunct Professor

Education

• BFA, Laguna College of Art and Design
• MFA, Laguna College of Art and Design

Teaching

• Beginning, Intermediate & Advanced Drawing
• Beginning, Intermediate & Advanced Figure Drawing
• Beginning, Intermediate & Advanced Painting
• Fundamentals of Studio Art
• 2D
• Color Theory

Adjunct Art Professor

Biography

Hannah Kim Varamini is an interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. She was born in Washington, D.C. to first-generation Korean immigrants. She received her BFA from Cornell University and MFA from the art program at CalArts. Her work employs language and symbology to examine ideologies of nationalism, and personal histories of diaspora and cultural hybridity. She spent time in Namibia on a Fulbright fellowship in 2008, which propelled an ongoing interest in postcolonial discourse. She has presented work in various contexts including the Santa Cruz Museum of Art, the Phillips Collection, and the National Art Gallery of Namibia.

Education

• BFA, Cornell University
• MFA, California Institute of the Arts