Keeara Rhoades

Keeara Rhoades, MFA

Assistant Professor, Art, CLASS

Ms. Keeara Rhoades is a devoted artist and teacher. Since joining the Department of Art in 2017, she has shown exceptional abilities to adapt to teaching new courses, built a desirable studio program using ever-changing technology, and provided exceptional support to her students.

Rhoades leads two programs of emphasis, including photography — both digital and chemical processes — and new media, encompassing time-based, interactive, and digitally-generative art works such as video, animation, installation, and digital imaging. Her focus on both education, creativity, and professional practice is exceptional. One of her nominators shares, “Her research and creative practice is original, inventive, and always connects the audience to an underlying psychology of relationship.”

Rhoades shows a strong commitment to building a dynamic curriculum and has made great strides in working collaboratively with faculty throughout the institution. In 2019, she received a Curricular Innovation Grant, expanding the creative potential of Media Arts to engage socially integrated art forms. Rhoades also values creating individual connections with her students. One of her students shared, “She brings so much life to the classroom, is always making connections and encouraging us to ask questions and push beyond what we know.” The student also shared that Rhoades not only truly cares about the success of every one of her students, but also has the ability to explain techniques in a way students can understand, while also being skilled at teaching them how to be resourceful and efficient.

As Artist-in-Residence at the Yellowstone Art Museum, Rhoades is creating a multi-media animated film titled The Shape of a Corner, premiering in a solo exhibition at the YAM this fall. The production has been enhanced by grant award support from MSUB’s CARE and Pre-Tenure Scholarship Enhancement Grants. Rhoades’ service on university committees and her commitment to her department, student success, and community outreach, makes her a well-deserving recipient of a Winston and Helen Cox Fellowship Award.