DENTON, Texas (UNT) – Photographer Dornith Doherty, University Distinguished Research Professor of art at the University of North Texas' College of Visual Arts and Design, has been named the 2016 Texas State Visual Artist 2D.

Doherty was selected for the honor from more than 600 nominated artists. The Texas Commission on the Arts named its state poet laureates, musician and 2D and 3D artists for 2015 and 2016, and the Texas State Legislature approved the appointments this month.

"It is a profound honor to be appointed Texas State Artist," Doherty said. "I am inspired by the prolific creative and intellectual achievements accomplished by my esteemed fellow artists during the span of their careers. Their steadfast commitment to making serious work that is challenging and contributes to the cultural life of our state makes me very proud to be counted among them."

Doherty, who has taught at UNT for 19 years, said she has focused on the "complex relationship between the natural environment and human agency through photographic projects focusing on landscape stewardship and genetic resource preservation."

Her projects include documenting "the culturally inflected landscape" of the Rio Grande River valley in a series called Agua Quemada and photographing the preservation work of seed banks from around the world in Archiving Eden. 

Her works have been exhibited in museums around the world and featured in numerous magazines and journals. She was a 2012 Guggenheim Foundation Fellow and has received grants from the Fulbright Foundation, Japan Foundation, the Society for Contemporary Photography, the Indiana Arts Commission and the U.S. Department of the Interior.

She also was a 2010 UNT Institute for the Advancement of the Arts Faculty Fellow, which allowed her to take a semester off from teaching to pursue her creative pursuits.

She received her bachelor’s degree from Rice University and a master’s of fine arts degree in photography from Yale University.

"I am fascinated by photography and its poetic realism," she said. "It still amazes me that I make art by capturing light rays radiating off my subjects. The metaphoric qualities of photographic images captured my attention from the start, and I've photographed seriously from that moment on."