Russell Cook
1002 Ave A
Rome Ga, 30165
404-580-1057
rcook@highlands.edu
Education
2014-16 MA Art History studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
2007 MFA, Drawing, Painting and Printmaking, Georgia State University
2002 Graduate Studies, California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, CA
2000 BFA, Drawing and Painting, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
1996 Undergraduate studies, Art Institute of Atlanta
1995 UGA at Oxford Program, Keeble College, Oxford, England
Teaching Experience
2023 Full Professor of Art with Tenure, Georgia Highlands College
2018 Associate Professor of Art with Tenure, Georgia Highlands College
2017 Assistant Professor of Art with Tenure, Georgia Highlands College
2014-17 Assistant Professor of Art, Georgia Highlands College
2009-14 Full-time Lecturer in Art, Georgia Highlands College
2008-09 Full-time Instructor of Art, Georgia Highlands College
2007 Part-time Instructor of Art, Georgia Highlands College
2005-07 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
(Instructor of Record: Drawing 1, Drawing 2, 2D Design)
2005 Lab Assistant in Photography, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
2004-05 Drawing Instructor, Coosa Valley Technical College, Rome, GA
Professional Experience
2021-23 Gallery Assistant/Art Handler/Resident Artist, Kingfisher Art Co.,
2021 Co-Curator, with Cameron Cook and Victoria Mary Clarke, The Art of Shane MacGowan, Kingfisher Art Co.
2018-24 Writer, Principal Performer, Russell Cook & the Sweet Teeth
2015 Co-owner, Blue Star Gallery, Jasper, GA
2002-24 Writer, Principal Performer, Little Country Giants
2012 Ensemble Understudy, Original Cast, Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, Alliance Theater
2011 Ten-Day Workshop for Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, led by Susan V. Booth, Stephen King, John Mellencamp, T-Bone Burnette, and Norman Lear, Alliance Theater, Atlanta, GA
2007 Staff Writer, Burnaway.org, art reviews and criticism, Atlanta, GA
2004-06 Art Editor, Writer, Rome Unscene Alternative Weekly, Rome, GA
2005 Foundryman, Mark Hopkins Sculpture Studio, Rome, GA
2001-02 Assistant Artist, Deljou Art Group, Atlanta, GA
Selected Exhibitions
2023 All Flesh Is Grass, (solo show) Lowe Mill Galleries, Huntsville, AL
2023 Russell Cook, (solo show) Kingfisher Art Co., Rome, GA
2022 51st Annual Kentuck Festival of the Arts, Northport, AL
2022 Gathered V: Georgia Artists Selecting Georgia Artists, MoCA GA Biennial, Atlanta, GA
2021 Open Studio, Kingfisher Art Co, Rome, GA
2020 Embodiment II, Moon Gallery, Berry College, Rome, GA
2019 Inspiring Artists, Harbin Clinic Gallery, Rome, GA
2019 Russell Cook, (solo show) Harris Arts Center, Calhoun, GA
2019 Works on Paper, (solo show) Lowe Mill Galleries, Huntsville, AL
2018 Finster Fest, Paradise Garden, Summerville, GA
2018 Magic City Arts Connection, Birmingham, AL
2017 Smooth Down the Noise, (solo show), Georgia Highlands College
2017 Disarrangement of Form, (solo show), Creative Arts Guild, Dalton, GA
2017 Magic City Arts Connection, Birmingham, AL
2016 Moss Rock Festival, Hoover AL
2016 Finster Fest, Paradise Garden, Summerville, GA
2015 Regional Art Show, Harris Arts Center, Calhoun GA
2015 Opening Exhibition, Blue Star Gallery, Jasper GA
2014 Collage @ (SCENE), (SCENE) metrospace, East Lansing, MI
2014 85 Years, 85 Artists, Menlo College, Atherton, CA
2013 First Place Losers, Solo Exhibition, Georgia Highlands College
2011 Pin-Up, Georgia Museum of Contemporary Art
2010 Russell Cook, Solo Exhibition, Eyedrum, Atlanta, GA
2007 Fists of Foam and Fury, MFA Thesis Exhibition, GSU
2006 Configuration, 11 Lindbergh Street, Rome, GA
2005 Spring Show, Whitespace, Atlanta, GA
2005 Russell Cook and Myrtice West, Rome Area Council for the Arts
2004 Eternal Spring, Rome Area Council for the Arts, Rome, GA
2003 Viv and a Movie Art & Film Show, San Francisco, CA
2003 Arts on Parade, Benicia, CA
2002 Eclectic Electric, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, GA
Collaborative Works (Music, Film, and Theater)
2023 Sweetness, Russell Cook & the Sweet Teeth, writer/performer/co-producer
2019 Tate’s Hell, film score, co-writer and performer
2019 To Kingdom Come, soundtrack, (writer/performer- I Will Always Be Around)
2019 Live in the Library, Russell Cook & the Sweet Teeth, writer/performer
2019 Lonely Fool in the Dark, Russell Cook & the Sweet Teeth, video production, editing
2016 Dead Reckoning, Little Country Giants, writer/performer
2013 Blind Tiger: The Legend of Belltree Smith, film soundtrack and performance
2012 Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, Ensemble Understudy, Alliance Theater, Atlanta, GA,
(premier production by Stephen King, John Mellencamp, and T-Bone Burnett)
2012 60 Grit, Little Country Giants, Cowboy Angel Records, writer/performer
2012 Child’s Play, Anthony-Masterson short film, performer
2011 Ghost Brothers of Darkland County pre-production workshop, Alliance Theater, Atlanta, GA
2011 Grow!, Anthony-Masterson documentary, 9 song film score
2011 Esposito, Vanguard Cinema, soundtrack
2010 Pushin’ Up Daisies, film score, (writer/performer-Buckaby Crenshaw)
2009 Fists of Foam and Fury, Little Country Giants, writer/performer
2007 Freelance, film score, (writer/performer-More Than Everything)
2007 Sing Pretty For The People, Little Country Giants, writer/performer,
2005 Breaking Hearts And Living Free, Little Country Giants, writer/performer
2002 Just For This Song’s Time, Little Country Giants, writer/performer
Professional Service
2022-23 Chair, Art Faculty Search Committee, Georgia Highlands College
2021-22 Chair, Pre-Tenure Review Committee, Georgia Highlands College
2020-21 Chair, Art Faculty Search Committee, Georgia Highlands College
2017-18 Pre-Tenure Review Committee, Georgia Highlands College
2016-17 Statute and Faculty Affairs Committee, Georgia Highlands College
2013-15 Assessment Coordinator, Humanities Team, Georgia Highlands College
2013 Spring Papermaking Workshop for GreenHighlands Student Organization
Community Service
2018-24 Board of Directors, Paradise Garden Foundation, Summerville, GA
2023 Finster Fest Music Committee 2023, Paradise Garden, Summerville, Ga
2022 Finster Fest Music Committee 2022, Paradise Garden, Summerville, Ga
2020 Juror, Smithsonian’s Crossroads: Change in Rural America, Summerville, Ga
2018 Juror, Floyd County Governor’s Honors Program in Art
2015-17 Steering Committee, Georgia String Band Festival, Calhoun, GA
2015 Summer Concert Series Committee, Harris Arts Center, Calhoun, GA
2014 Entertainment Coordinator, Fairmount Folk Art Fest, Fairmount, GA
Awards/Honors
2022 Selected for Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MoCA GA) Biennial, Gathered V: Georgia Artists Selecting Georgia Artists
2017 Kinetic Communications Signature Award, Magic City Arts Connection, Birmingham, AL
2011 Judge’s Choice, Pin-Up, Georgia Museum of Contemporary Art
2007 Nominated for Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant, Georgia State University
2006 Reader’s Choice: Best Local Traditional Folk Act: Little Country Giants, Creative Loafing Atlanta
2006 Emerging Artist of the Year: Little Country Giants, Rome Area Council for the Arts, Rome, Ga
2005 Reader’s Choice: Best Local Traditional Folk Act: Little Country Giants, Creative Loafing Atlanta
2002 Gold Prize, Decatur Fine Arts Festival, Decatur, Ga
2000 Presidential Scholar, University of Georgia
2000 Deans List, University of Georgia
2000 Lamar Dodd School of Art Award, Yancey Robertson Memorial Competition, University of Georgia
Artist Talks and Guest Lectures
2022 Guest Lecturer, Chris Hall's One Health and Health and Public Policy classes, Berry College, Rome, GA
2022 Artist’s Talk, Rome Art Coterie, Rome, GA
2019 “Pennville’s Paradise”(on Howard Finster), Harbin Clinic Gallery, Makervillage, Rome, GA
2019 Artist’s Talk, Lowe Mill Galleries, Huntsville, AL
2006 Artist’s Talk, Graduate Symposium on the Human Condition, Georgia State University
Selected Performances
Alliance Theater, Atlanta, GA
Americana Folk Festival, Dickson, TN
Americana Music Conference, Nashville, TN
Atlanta Dogwood Festival, Atlanta, GA
Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, GA
Arts on Main Street Summer Concert Series, Scottsville, KY
Athens Americana Festival, Athens, GA
AthFest, Athens, GA
Barking Legs Theater, Chattanooga, TN
Bristol Rhythm and Roots Festival, Bristol, TN
Cafe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY
Celebration South Festival, Statesboro, GA
Chiaha Arts Festival, Rome, GA
Clementine, Harrisonburg, VA
Club Passim, Camden, MA
Eddie’s Attic, Decatur, GA
Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta, GA
First Friday Folk Series, Savannah, GA
Folk Alliance, Memphis, TN
Gem Theater, Calhoun, GA
Georgia Public Broadcasting, Mountain Music and Medicine Show
Georgia State University Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Guilford College, Greensboro, NC
Harris Arts Center, Calhoun, GA
High Museum of Art, Atlanta Ga
International String Band Festival, Calhoun, GA
Kentuck Festival of the Arts, Northpoint, AL
Legacy Fine Arts Festival, Cartersville, GA
Nightfall Concert Series, Chattanooga, TN
North Georgia Folk Festival, Athens, GA
Pete’s Candy Store, Brooklyn, NY
Pickathon, Portland, OR
Red Clay Theater, Duluth, GA
Rockwood Music Hall, New York, NY
Rome Area History Museum, Rome, GA
Rome City Auditorium, Rome, GA
The 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA
Publications and Press
Live in the Library, WUTC Radio, Recording and Broadcast, December 2, 2023
Scenic City Roots, WUTC Radio, Interview for FinsterFest, September 12, 2022
Chattanooga Times Free Press, December 10, 2019
Calhoun Times, April 26, 2019
Adult Swim Bloodfeast, Performance, Sept. 19, 2017
Best of the North Georgia Mountains, October issue, 2016
Highlander Magazine, Faculty Spotlight, Spring 2016
Highlander Magazine, Staff Spotlight, Spring 2015
Renee Batti, “Exhibit Opens Doorway to Decades Past,” The Almanac, March 22, 2014
Exhibition Catalog, 85 Years, 85 Artists, Menlo College, Atherton CA, 2014
Old Red Kimono Literary Journal, Visual Art, 2012, 2013, 2014
Flagpole Magazine, Athens GA, Calendar Picks, July 10, 2013
The Pulse, Little Country Giants: Storytellers in the Southern Tradition, Feb 2013
WUTC Radio, Chattanooga, TN, interview and performance, August 17, 2012
WUOG Radio, Athens, GA, interview and performance, August 15, 2012
WDVX Radio, Knoxville, TN, interview and performance, December 1, 2006
WREK Radio, Atlanta, GA, interview and performance, May 3, 2005
WRAS Radio, Atlanta, GA, interview and performance, July 21, 2005
Georgia Trend magazine, Exhibition announcement with photograph. March 2005
Classes Taught
ARTS 1010: Drawing I: Introduction to the techniques, materials and principles of drawing. Designed primarily for potential art majors and others interested in studio artwork. This course emphasizes the development of drawing skills and focuses on basic two-dimensional design problems.
ARTS 1011:Drawing II: Techniques, materials, and principles of drawing. This course is designed for art majors. It expands upon basic skills taught in Drawing I (ARTS 1010) and introduces new materials and avenues of expression with a special emphasis on color and design.
ARTS 1020: Two-Dimensional Design/Color Theory: The fundamentals of two-dimensional design, introduced through projects in a variety of media. Designed for art majors, this course investigates the problems and possibilities of color in relation to two-dimensional design through exercises involving hue, value, saturation, and other properties of color. It also introduces students to the use of acrylic paint.
ARTS 1030: Three-Dimensional Design: An investigation of three-dimensional forms and space using various materials and methods. This basic course in sculpture examines the three-dimensional aspects of art structure as applied in a variety of materials, including plaster, wood, and clay. Students study the technical aspects and design problems of working with three-dimensional forms and spatial relationships.
ARTS 1111: Art History to the Renaissance: This survey of art history covers the major periods of Western art from prehistory to 1400. It focuses on stylistic trends and cultural relationships. Some consideration is given to non-Western art forms.
ARTS 1112: Art History Renaissance to Present: This survey of art history covers the main periods of Western art from 1400 to the present. Some consideration is also given to non-western art.
ARTS 1113: Art Appreciation: This course seeks to develop an understanding of the arts built upon exposure to the painting, sculpture, architecture and other arts of contemporary and earlier times. Illustrated lectures and readings present the sociological and psychological factors that influence the production of art and show the basic problems of design and technique in the development of an artist and his work.
ARTS 1118: History and Appreciation of Folk Art: This survey of folk and outsider art history will cover art and artists’ creative activity that takes place outside of the professional mainstream of art, including the art of the self-taught, folk, visionary, vernacular, naïve, and untrained. Students will see significant overlap and limitations in these categories, and with intersections of the mainstream art world. The class is an exploration of this work that exists on the shifting margins of the art world. Students will look at the early 20th-century movement Art Brut, with its interest in the art of children and those with mental illness, and move thematically through the visionary writings and illustrations of religious mystics, folk arts, craft traditions, street art, and the more recent art world embrace of artists outside the mainstream. Special focus will be given to the folk and visionary art of our region, such as the pottery of Lanier Meaders and family, and Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden in Summerville.
ARTS 2181: Painting I: This studio art course is limited to students in the art pathway. It is designed for majors who have completed their basic studio requirements and wish to work for a semester in a major discipline of painting. The course concentrates on techniques in traditional and innovative oil painting. The course requires extensive effort, both supervised and independent.
Professional Affiliations/Memberships
Paradise Garden Foundation Board, Summerville, GA
College Art Association (CAA), New York, NY
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Harris Arts Center, Calhoun, GA