Meet our judges

Donna McCullar

Donna is a Pontotoc native and taught grades K-12 art for 32 years. She taught art at PHS (& inspired Mrs. Gersh to become an artist, too). She has been the career coach at Saltillo High School for 3 years, but still resides in Pontotoc with her husband, Shelby McCullar Jr. They have four children and three grandchildren.

Donna is judging the Charcoal & Pencil & Scratchboard categories.

Justin Mitchell

Justin, a resident of Jackson, Mississippi, received his associate's degree from Hinds Community College and his bachelor's degree from Mississippi College; Both in Graphic Design. While at MC, he worked for the Mississippi College Collegian, the school newspaper. He also won first place in the Arrowhead (MC's in-house literary & arts magazine) in the Digital Illustration category. After graduating, Justin went on to work for celebrity photographer, Will Sterling. He gained experience working at Brown Bottling Group, a local Pepsi-Cola distributer and now works for The Decal Guys, an industry leader in fleet graphics. He really enjoys photography when he travels, which are two of his favorite hobbies.

Justin is judging the Colored Pencil & Photography categories.

Felicity Pierson

Felicity was born in South Africa to missionary parents and moved to the states in 1997, settling in Georgia. In 2016, she moved to Mississippi. She completed a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts with a concentration in Painting from Georgia Southwestern State University. She has participated in many art festivals and has completed numerous commissions. She has taught private and group art lessons from her house for all ages. You can follow her on facebook via FelicityPiersonArt.

Felicity is judging the Gouache & Watercolor & Paint (Acrylic, Oil, & Tempera) categories.

Chris Sneed

Chris, owner of Sneed Pottery in Hurricane, Mississippi, earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in Ceramics at Eastern Michigan University. In addition to creating pottery, Chris teaches art at Calhoun City Schools. From the first time he touched clay, he knew he wanted to be a potter. "People form relationships with pottery," he says. "Everyone has that one bowl or cup they love to use. When they use my work, it's like I'm a part of their life." Chris enjoys every part of the pottery creation process. You can view his work at www.sneedpottery.com.

Chris is judging the Miscellaneous & Mixed Media categories.