Rate My Professor Mario Kiran

Mario Kiran is Professor of Art and Chair of the Department of the Arts in the College of Arts and Humanities at The University of Texas Permian Basin. He holds a BFA from Ken School of the Arts and an MFA in Painting from the University of South Dakota. Kiran teaches a range of courses including printmaking, two-dimensional design, digital and lens technology, and graphic design for web. His hybrid course in Digital and Lens Technology has received Quality Matters course design certification. As program coordinator for visual arts, he oversees departmental initiatives and serves as the university's Institutional Representative for the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) accreditation.

In 2013, Mario Kiran co-founded Pots-n-Prints, a mobile art studio, with Associate Professor of Art Chris Stanley. The trailer is equipped with an etching press, screenprinting press, ten potter's wheels, and a mobile kiln, enabling one-day workshops in printmaking and ceramics at rural schools and community centers across Southwest and West Texas. These workshops allow K-12 students to create engravings, screenprints, and glazed ceramic artwork on-site. Pots-n-Prints invites accomplished printmakers and ceramicists to UTPB's visual art studios, where they engage with students, sharing techniques and inspiring new explorations in art processes. Funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Odessa Arts, and UTPB—including an unprecedented third NEA grant of $17,000 secured by Kiran—the program has expanded to include assisted living facilities and earned placement on the Texas Commission on the Arts touring roster. Kiran's leadership has significantly impacted community arts access and student development, as evidenced by alumni who credit his mentorship and Pots-n-Prints opportunities for their professional growth. His artistic practice features printmaking, with exhibitions such as “Ek Saath (Together)” at Angelo State University in 2025, and he has curated invitational shows including “Ink Addiction.” Prior to his academic career, Kiran worked as a Junior Artist at a graphic arts agency in Bangalore, India.