Tom Lee

Associate Professor

Sculpture & Foundations

BA, Montana State University
MFA, University of Mississippi

I was born in Brownwood, Texas in 1952. My strongest growing up memories are of the West Texas panhandle and its infinite horizon. I now prefer the horizontal over the vertical (having a short stature probably reinforces that preference). My education was a long and circular experience, beginning in Texas (of course) where they take their history (and themselves) a little too seriously. An average high school experience led to a stint with Uncle Sam (USAF) helping protect New Mexico from aliens. College seemed like a good escape from hup, two, three, so I began a music degree in theory (which I understood more than the piano). A spur of the moment decision to leave the South took me to Montana to finish the undergraduate degree in art from Montana State University in Bozeman. Tired of school, I hawked pecans on the highway for a long month. Grad school began to look really good, but not before cutting my share of grass with the ground crew at the University of Mississippi. For once, I was excited by education, learning, and producing artwork. Finishing the MFA in standard time, the doldrums were not far behind. Five years of puttering (mostly), raising more pecans, and wasting away, I was fortunate to find myself teaching at Memphis College of Art, where I have been since 1989. Never happier, or more fulfilled.

tlee@mca.edu / 901-272-5143

Tom Lee

Associate Professor

Sculpture & Foundations

BA, Montana State University MFA, University of Mississippi

BA, Montana State University
MFA, University of Mississippi