James Pierce began his creative career in the video industry, working with everything from local to international clients. However, he primarily worked to help non-profit clients. After over a decade worth of experience in video, he applied his expertise in motion and design and to web design and development. Prior to joining Belmont full-time in 2011, he started a company that allowed artists to create websites, without the need to know all the inter-workings of web design. James continues to design and build web applications that solve needs in the community, educational institutions and design industry. 

James's thesis for his MFA degree, entitled Natural User Interfaces in the Information Age, explored the history and changes in consumer-based computer interactions. He continues to research graphic and natural user interfaces and consults local entrepreneurs creating mobile and web design products.

James is married to a graphic designer and has two small dogs.

Before joining Watkins, Tingle was the program coordinator at Poverty and the Arts (POVA), where she created an artistic professional development curriculum, managed artwork as well as merchandise inventory and sales, and tracked artists’ progress within the program. Prior to her nonprofit work, she was a visual art teacher in local public schools. As a teacher, Tingle enjoyed the challenge of making connections between the arts and academic disciplines, all toward the goal of practical applications in our society. In addition to being an art educator and historian, Tingle is an arts advocate and practicing artist herself.

Katie Mitchell is a Tennessee native. After completing her BFA in studio arts at Belmont, she then migrated to the University of South Carolina in Columbia to pursue an MFA in Painting. Most recently, she was selected as a participant in the Contemporary Chinese Art Institute sponsored by the Confucius Institute of Western Kentucky University. 

When she is not busy teaching, running around the studio, working in the gallery, or knitting, she delights in life's seemingly insignificant moments!