Chris Adams
Assistant Professor in Fine Arts - Art
BFA; University of North Texas - MFA; Texas Tech University
Allison Black
Professor in Fine Arts - Art
Allison Black has been teaching college art full time since 1998 and has been with South Plains College since 2002. She has taught courses in Fine Arts including: Drawing I & II, 2D and 3D Design, Art History survey I & II, and Art Appreciation. She has also taught beginning and advanced courses in ceramics, painting, watercolor, sculpture and jewelry design & metalsmithing (art metals). A native of Southern New Jersey, Professor Black studied Liberal Arts at Virginia Tech (1978-82), earned her BFA in Studio Art in 1994 (metals major, watercolor and clay minors) and in 1997 earned her MFA in Studio Art (jewelry & metalsmithing major, clay and art history minor) at Texas Tech University. Additional post graduate study there has included more than 100 credit hours in art history and theory, art education, philosophy, music, theater and women’s studies towards a PhD. Her wearable art, wall pieces, sculpture and objects have been included in international, national, regional and local shows and galleries; including New York City, Chicago, New Orleans, Santa Barbara, Vail, Colorado; Birmingham and Detroit, Michigan; Hannibal and Louisiana, Missouri; Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Lubbock, Texas. Her work has been the subject of a feature article in the international periodical of wearable art –Ornament magazine and is part of many private collections, including a Christmas ornament in the White House collection and work in a virtual exhibition in Russia.
Kara Donatelli
Associate Professor in Fine Arts - Art
Kara Donatelli has taught at South Plains College since 2002, serving as Associate professor of art. She teaches courses in Ceramics, Photography, Art Appreciation and Foundations of Art. She earned a BFA from West Virginia University in 1996 and an MFA from Texas Tech University in 2000. Her Honors and awards include the Arch and Anne Giles Kinbrough Fund Research Grant from the Dallas Museum of Art, Get Involved Young Adult Volunteer Award from the Volunteer Center of Lubbock, and Rookie Volunteer of the Year North Texas State Hospital. Donatelli has been a visiting artist at Houston Baptist University, and North Harris College in Houston Texas. She has had residencies at the Creative Artists Center in North Adams, Massachusetts, The Hungarian Multicultural Center in Budapest, Hungary, and The Prairie Center for the Arts in Peoria, Illinois.
Scotty Hensler
Assistnat Professor in Fine Arts - Art
Scotty Hensler is an artist and tenured Assistant Professor of Art at South Plains College (SPC), where he also serves as the Director of the SPC Art Gallery. He began his teaching career at SPC in the Fall of 2020. His pedagogy is centered on cultivating visual and emotional acuity in expression and dialogue, structuring projects around pertinent issues, and the reclamation of obscured histories. In addition to his academic and curatorial roles, he is a board member and Chair of the Programs Committee at the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts (LHUCA), where he plays an active role in supporting and shaping the regional arts community.
Previously, Scotty worked as Assistant Director for Landmark Arts at Texas Tech University School of Art, where he coordinated hundreds of exhibitions—from middle school artists to nationally recognized professionals. He also contributed to the Texas Tech University System Public Art Program as a committee member, helping select public art installations across campuses statewide.
Scotty holds an MFA in Painting with a secondary concentration in Sculpture. As a practicing artist, he has exhibited throughout the Southwest, is active in the Lubbock art community and First Friday Art Trail, and held a residency at the Charles Adams Studio Project. Alongside his own practice, and as an educator, he continues to support and facilitate exhibitions for fellow artists.
For more, visit: scottylloydhensler.com
