Visual Arts Faculty Bios

Mary Stuart Hall holds a degree in Sculpture at Sewanee, The University of the South, and a Master’s in Art Education from the University of Georgia. Mary Stuart Hall is also currently pursuing her MFA in Studio Art at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). She also maintains a studio practice outside of her teaching. A multi-disciplinary artist born and raised in Atlanta, she creates sculptural installations that mediate text and other forms of cultural artifacts into a multi-dimensional experience. She has shown her work in Atlanta and the Southeast.

Erin Ray holds a BFA in Art Education from the University of Georgia, as well as National Board Certification. She has taught visual art for over a decade and still learns new ways to go about it every day! Her balanced curriculum offers students the opportunity to build skills sequentially in a variety of media while developing creativity and personal voice. Her favorite medium is printmaking, especially in the classroom. She loves to travel and go on adventures with her partner, Austin, and their two children.

Lore Ruttan received degrees in biology from the University of Chicago, Ecology and Evolution from the University of Minnesota, and in Human Ecology from the University of California at Davis. She then joined the Department of Environmental Studies at Emory where she taught for nine years. Lore took courses in Botanical Illustration at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and in Natural Science Illustration at the University of Santa Cruz, discovering a new passion for art, and left Emory to start a business. She continues to work as an illustrator for scientific publications, public spaces, and private collections.

Kyra Sampson has a background in elementary art education and has spent her years in different cities learning the community and what the art room’s purpose is. With a passion for creating choice-based artistic learning environments where young students are able to create based on their own interests and ideas along with learning artistic behaviors and skills, Kyra makes the art room a space for exploring and creating in a safe space.