Welcome Justin A. Carney to the Department of Art and Art History as an assistant professor of photography!

Carney is an artist and educator who uses autobiographical photography to question how death and grief affect familial connections—the bonds that keep a family together and cause them to separate, and how grief shapes an individual. Much of Carney’s artistic practice deals with confronting and exposing grief surrounding death to create an avenue for not only himself but also for others to find healing and cope with the deaths in their lives.

Carney is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. He received an MFA in Studio Art with a concentration in Photography from Indiana University Bloomington, and a BFA in Photography from Pennsylvania College of Art & Design. His work has been exhibited in venues both nationally and internationally.

Why Just is excited to work for Art and Art History:

“I’m incredibly grateful to have been offered the position to teach at CSU in the AAH Department. When I was doing research about the department, what drew me was the interdisciplinary focus and the number of resources the college has to offer to help students explore different means of making. I’ve never believed artists needed to be placed into neat categories to never venture out of them. This school has majors (I’m teaching in the Photo Area), yes, but the faculty encourage students to explore different art forms and bring that into their primary area in order to expand their primary medium. I like that a lot. That’s my goal, I want to teach my students to expand what photography can be.”

“I’m also excited to get the opportunity to work with the faculty in the AAH Department. Everyone has been so welcoming and interested in getting to know me better. I want to be able to learn about different art forms, just like I want my students to do, and the faculty here seem more than happy to share. That makes me happy because I believe art should be shared.”

“I’m super nervous, but a good nervous, about school starting. I want to see how I can grow in a place like this, and I want to see how I can help others grow.”