It has been said, “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.  Art is knowing which ones to keep.” Cameron University Professor of Art Katherine Liontas-Warren certainly shares the belief.  The 2007 Faculty Hall of Fame Award recipient said, “I make mistakes, and I learn.  My students make mistakes, and they learn.  Together, we gain knowledge, and our dedication to art is visible in the results of our endeavors.”

One mistake Liontas-Warren is sure to never repeat happened during her second year of teaching at Cameron.  The art professor was preparing the still life for her drawing class and asked a student to throw her the softball for the set-up.

“She threw it like a baseball player, and I received a lovely black eye,” said Liontas-Warren who has taught printmaking and drawing at CU since 1984.

Before joining Cameron, she earned a bachelor’s degree in studio art from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven Conn., and a Master of Fine Arts from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.

Liontas-Warren has achieved national recognition as an acclaimed artist having exhibited in numerous shows and competitive exhibitions throughout the United States and Europe.  Many of her drawings are in permanent collections across the nation and can be seen in university galleries and private institutions.

Still, her students proclaim her greatest work happens in the classroom.

“She is a master of motivation,” said former Dean of the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences Judy Neale, who was also one of Liontas-Warren’s students.  “She exclaims over every student’s efforts and makes her students want to draw.”