Biographical Text
Professor Emerita of Art Judy Lucille Humphrey (April 6, 1949 -) was born in Florence, South Carolina, the daughter of Nancy Eleanor Hopkins and Ray Wilson Humphrey. In May 1981, she married Terry Estes Taylor, and the couple currently lives in Boone. Ms. Humphrey attended A.C. Flora High School in Columbia, South Carolina, and graduated in 1967. She then attended the University of Georgia, Athens, and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1971 and her Master of Fine Arts degree in 1973. Her graduate thesis was entitled "An Exploitation of Etching Techniques." Humphrey's academic honors included dean's list eight quarters; Alpha Lambda Delta Honorary Scholastic Society; four months of study in Cortona, Italy; graduation with honors Phi Kappa Phi, upper ten percent of class; and graduate assistant in printmaking, 1972-73. Humphrey began teaching at Appalachian State University in 1973. Some of the courses she taught were: Foundations I, Foundations Drawing, Art Introduction, Studio for Non-Art Majors, Art in the Elementary School, Relief Printing, Photographic Design I, Drawing II, Independent Study, Intro NY/Washington Art Scene, Serigraphy, Pinhole Photography, Independent Study, Etching, Lithography, Photographic Design II, Senior Studio, and others. Humphrey's personal teaching philosophy was, "I taught because I loved the energy, insight, and innovation that the learning process ignites. I was always invigorated and personally humbled by the ever-changing experiences that I encountered in the classroom. I considered teaching to be a partnership and the classroom to be an open and safe forum that fostered and nurtured curiosity and a commitment to lifelong questioning and learning. Helping students to gain confidence and discover their own unique voices brought me a tremendous amount of personal satisfaction and joy. "I believed it was my responsibility to offer students as many diverse experiences and perspectives as possible in order for them to establish a broad base for their self-directed development and growth, both as artists and as human beings. I felt it is important to encourage and to challenge students by offering them the opportunity to explore a multitude of image-making possibilities and issues. My role was to provide guidance that will enable students to make important creative discoveries for themselves. I tried not to be too intrusive in their personal problem-solving endeavors because I wanted their solutions to be their own. "My classes were structured around increasing each student's individual level of competence, understanding, and the creative application of the diverse materials covered. My classes were organized in such a manner as to include a great deal of information and experiences in all of the following areas: technical processes and skills, compositional innovation, expressive content and concepts, personal artistic development and commitment, critical thinking and theory, historical development and perspective, contemporary trends and directions, pluralistic and non-traditional perspectives, expanded notions of materials and processes, and post-modernist theory and practice." Some of Ms. Humphrey's major curriculum activities included: member, Subcommittee to revise Senior Studio and Senior Seminar courses, fall 2003; teaching Design Fundamentals I for first time, spring 2003; teaching Advanced Print-making clustered with Lithography for the first time, spring 2003; development of new course, fall 2002: Mixed Media Studio For Non-Art Majors; participation in Foundations Daylong Workshop, fall 2001; designing and coordinating of the creation of an Alternative Darkroom, 2001; co-coordinator, Departmental Unit Plan, 1999; co-coordinator, Annual Report 1999; chair, Foundations Committee, 1995; and director, Portfolio Reviews, 1992-present. Community services performed by Ms. Humphrey included: member, Community Public Art space Committee, 2004; member, Blue Ridge Garden Club, 2002-2004; member, Watauga County Human Society, 1997-2004; member, Watauga County Arts Council, 1979-2004; She donated art to the Humane Society's Fur Ball Auction, 2002 and 2003; assisted Cheap Joe's Art Supplies in adding printmaking supplies to their local outlet, 2001; organized student print exhibit, Center for Craft, Creativity and Design, Hendersonville, North Carolina, 2001; was chair, Property Subcommittee, Boone Mural Committee, 1997; donated art to Mountain Pathway School's Auction, 1994; and performed many other community services. In December 2005, Humphrey was granted emerita status by the Appalachian State University Board of Trustees. Sources: Appalachian State University files and personal correspondence. -Kay R. Dickson
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