Rate My Professor Joseph Herring

Joseph Herring serves as Chair and Professor in the Department of Art and Design at the University of West Florida, a pivotal role within the Arts and Culture faculty of the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master of Fine Arts from ArtCenter College of Design. Herring teaches art and design courses, sharing his expertise in sculpture, installation, environmental design, drawing, collage, assemblage, and graphic design, as designated by the University of West Florida Newsroom subject matter experts listing. In his leadership position as department chair, he guides faculty and programs dedicated to fostering innovative creative practices and student development in visual arts disciplines.

Joseph Herring is co-founder and co-director of House Pencil Green, a chimeric creative studio that shape-shifts at times into a design studio; at other times into a performance art troupe; at other times into a house of carnivalesque fashion; and at other times into a traveling interstate fair. This multivalent, multimedia, multi-platform collaboration produces immersive, often chaotic environments. The work blends intense color, unconventional materials, found objects, and personal memorabilia into a playful aesthetic that blurs the lines between high and low culture and fosters unexpected connections between the everyday and the absurd. Herring maintains his office in Building 82, Room 255, with campus phone 850.474.2737. In 2024, he achieved promotion to full Professor status and was honored at the University of West Florida's Rite of Passage lecture series, which celebrates distinguished faculty advancements to full professorship.