Professor Walter Shroyer: “Inspiring the Next Generation of Artists”

Photos by Rampage student photographer Nathan LePere.

Over the past 31 years, Walter Shroyer has served Bluefield University as a full-time art professor and chair of the Art Department. That tenure will end after the 2021-2022 academic year when Shoryer retires from his work “inspiring the next generation of artists.”

“The arts are important to who we are as humans, expressing our emotions and the pleasure of life itself,” Shroyer said. “No one wants to live in a home with just blank walls. That sounds like a prison. I believe the arts inspire us to be better people.”

During his time at BU, Shroyer envisioned an art center and fundraised “over $500,000 to renovate the old boiler building on campus to the state-of-the art Don and Maria Cox Visual Arts Center.” He has also offered a ceramics course, co-taught an interdisciplinary course on the Holocaust, and co-taught an online class about the Appalachian Trail.

Additionally, his art has been featured in exhibits across the country, and he attended a month-long seminar on Appalachian Culture hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts at Ferrum College.

Shroyer taught and advised Charlie Agnew, a Bluefield University alumnus who is now a Middle Georgia State University art professor.

“Mr. Shroyer always inspired me to do my best and to look at the world through God’s eyes,” Agnew said. “There is a marvelous creation out there to be inspired by, and he has always created art inspired by it. He has had a long career teaching and inspiring artists. I only hope I can do as well as he has inspiring the next generation of artists.”

Shroyer was raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He enjoys hiking and has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, which stretches about 2,190 miles from Georgia to Maine. He also loves gardening and spending time with his wife, Linda, two sons, Michael and Forrest, and grandchild, Donnacha.

Shroyer completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Georgia, where he originally enrolled as a forestry major and took ceramic classes as electives.

“At the end of my sophomore year, after some praying and soul searching, I changed my major from forestry to art,” he said. “I love the creative nature of art, making something of value out of nothing.”

Shroyer also completed a Master of Fine Arts at Pennsylvania State University. Since, he has taught at Penn State, Georgia Southern University, Georgia State University Perimeter College, and Bluefield University.

“He helped me learn that showing my artwork was important,” Agnew said. “He also showed me how to write artist statements, take slides of my artwork, write my teaching philosophy, and how to write an artist’s CV (curriculum vitae). He also had me attend an art conference (SECAC) with him to see how they work, since I was interested in teaching. As a senior, he had me apply to five graduate schools, so I could continue my education to teach art.”

“Seeing some of these students have successful careers in art has been very rewarding,” Shroyer said. “In addition, having students taking art as an elective and seeing them learn, grow, and get excited about art has been very satisfying.”