DEPARTMENT OF FINE ARTS

Jaime Knight is an artist, musician and educator whose practice investigates the radical intricacies of queer subjectivity. Born and raised in Albuquerque, he did his growing up in California. He received his BFA from the University of New Mexico, an MA in Arts Education from San Francisco State University and an MFA from the University of Iowa. His work utilizes drawn and printed material, sculptural objects and installation, and time-based media. Some of his recent projects explore the correlation between the AIDS crisis and nuclear threat of the Reagan era, ideas of queer utopianism and longing and representations of gays in history and contemporary media. His upcoming work is focused on the craft of hand papermaking.  jaimecknight.com

 

Jaime teaches across the art curriculum in Photography, Sculpture, Art Practices, Graphic Design, Printmaking and Book Arts.

 

Email: jaimecknight@unm.edu

Izumi Yokoyama, a multi-media artist in Taos, New Mexico, is known for her diverse artistic mediums. Born in Niigata, Japan, Yokoyama obtained her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and moved to the high desert. Her creative expression ranges from ink pen drawings, installations, murals, calligraphy, interactive community projects, and dynamic performances. Yokoyama's work has been showcased locally, nationally, and internationally. The Harwood Museum of Art acquired one of her new drawings for their permanent collection, and she is slated to have a solo show at the Denver Botanic Gardens Museum in 2026.

 

Izumi teaches Drawing I and II

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Email: iyokoyama@unm.edu

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Kimberly Thompson is a professional goldsmith, who specializes in producing wearable works inspired by cultural relics and sacred geometry. Over the past decade, she has studied numerous techniques from around the world in the classical tradition of metal arts and jewelry fabrication. Through her work as an instructor of small metals and metalsmithing, she passes her knowledge of the craft to the next generation of perspective artists. After receiving her MA in Art History from CSU Sacramento, in addition to her training as an art historian, Kimberly has committed herself to the continual education and promotion of craft-based arts.  She has taught both Art History and Metalsmithing at multiple college campuses throughout California. https://dorisjeandesign.com

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Kimberly teaches Jewelry and Small Metal Construction I and Jewelry and Small Metal Construction II.

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Email: thompsonkj@unm.edu

Christopher Schuldt is a painter in the expanded field. His practice is invested in abstraction as a method of reaching toward latent meaning in forms drawn from his life experiences and the systems of knowledge that structure his understanding of the world. He teaches Painting and Art Practices at UNM Taos. Christopher earned a BFA in Painting and Drawing from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, in Minneapolis MN, in 2019, and an MFA from University of New Mexico in 2024. He was part of the Site Scholar program and exhibited work with the 2023 Site Scholar cohort at SITE Santa Fe. He has also recently shown work at the University of New Mexico Art Museum, John Sommers Gallery, Sanitary Tortilla Factory, and Bingo. 

 

Christopher teaches Painting I and II and Art Practices I and II

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Email: cschuldt9@unm.edu

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Associate Professor Gary Cook has forty years of teaching experience. Over his career he has taught all levels of painting, drawing and printmaking as well as classes on consciousness, creativity, healing and personal awareness. He has developed programs with visual artists, writers, musicians, dream shamans, dancers and global educators. He teaches for both the art department and the Holistic Health and Healing Arts Program. Four museums, ten universities and fifteen galleries have exhibited his paintings and prints. He earned his MFA at Northern Illinois University and BFA at Michigan State University.

 

Gary teaches Drawing I, Drawing II, Painting , Painting II, and Intro to Printmaking, and Monotype.

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Email: gary@unm.edu

Lee Akins was born in Texas, but grew up in Taiwan.He received his B.F.A. from the Dayton Art Institute, Ohio in 1975 and M.F.A. from Southern Methodist University in Ceramics in 1986. He has taught ceramics for more than 40 years.He has exhibited internationally in Taiwan and Japan and nationally including The Dallas Museum of Art. His work has been featured in ceramic magazines including an article in Ceramics Monthly, August/September 2006. www.leeakins.com

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Lee teaches Intro to Ceramics, Ceramics I, Raku, Sculpture, and Drawing I.

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Email: lakins@unm.edu

Katy Ballard is an artist, activist, feminist, historian, and educator. She earned her Ph.D. in Visual Studies and Artistic Practice from Texas Tech University, where her research focused on art curriculum, art history, visual studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies. Her doctoral work centered on queer performance art and artists, during which she collected oral histories of drag performers in Lubbock, TX. This work continues to inform both her teaching and activism. Ballard is currently developing her studio practice using a variety of techniques that blend her socially engaged art process, rooted in feminism, body politics, and domestic spaces. She grew up across the United States and, for the past 11 years, has made her home in Taos, New Mexico, where she has curated and led community activism efforts, including LGBTQIA+ Pride Month programming and events.

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Katy teaches Art History

 

Email: ballardk@unm.edu

Adrian is a new media artist and filmmaker based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In his work Adrian explores the relationship between contemporary anxieties and stories of the paranormal. Sightings of Adrian have been reported at UFO festivals, Bigfoot research conferences, and in the dark recesses of the comments sections of low-view-count YouTube videos. Adrian received his MFA from the University of New Mexico in 2016. Adrian's work has been shown at Silicon Valet; De:Formal; The Sanitary Tortilla Factory in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Biquini Wax gallery in Mexico City; as part of the International Symposium of Electronic Arts in Vancouver, Canada; and other traditional and nontraditional spaces. https://adrianpijoan.net

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Adrian teaches Introduction to Photography, Art and Ecology, and Introduction to Photoshop

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Email: ampijoan@unm.edu

Serving UNM-Taos since 2008, Paula shares her love for working with student learners, art-making, and the study of art appreciation and art history through online education. Paula's experience includes teaching studio art, digital photography, image editing, video production, and new media. She delivers art instruction to learners across the state of New Mexico and beyond. She continues to improve the experience of online instruction through research and training, designing UNM-Taos art courses to Quality Matters Standards. Degrees: Master of Fine Art Studio Art / Art History, Universidad de Guanajuato, Mx., Master of Science Studio Art / Art History, Texas A&M University, Bachelor of Fine Art, Studio Art / Art History, University of Texas, Austin. 

 

Paula teaches Introduction to Art, History of Art I, History of Art II, and Modern Art.

 

Email: pk1ng@unm.edu