Faculty Excellence Award

Mark Earnhart
Professor, Art, CLASS
Mark has been working with students and their sculptures at MSU Billings since 2014. Whether a student chooses to work in wood, fiber, metal, ceramics, or other materials, he has the technical ability to help students succeed. He is well-respected among artists in the Billings art community and was featured at a two-person exhibition at the Yellowstone Art Museum.
Just as important, according to a nominator, Mark knows how to connect with students so they can feel comfortable tackling new challenges in the art studio.
“He meets each student where they are at in their familiarity of the sculpture studio and crafts a curious and conceptually driven curriculum that challenges each student,” the nominator wrote. “Though they balk at the scary new experiences within the wood shop and welding shop, they remember the lessons learned and each project built and speak of them with awe that they have come so far in their studio skills within a short time.”
Mark has single-handedly developed a studio safety course required for all art majors, which met a critical need for meeting accreditation standards for the Art Department. “Earnhart has always problem-solved safe practices with all studio areas in the department, making sure that both faculty and students maintain good health and safety standards.”