Brian L. Ragsdale Ph.D. is a mixed media artist who primarily uses acrylic paint, markers, found objects, and cut paper. He became interested in art in the 5th grade when his teacher taught him about negative space. In the early 1980s, he received his BS in fine arts and graphic design from Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD, where he was voted the Outstanding Student in Art. Then he worked for 15 years as a corporate and freelance graphic designer in South Norwalk, CT. Over this period, he worked with IBM, Pepsi-Cola, and several organizations designing logos, newsletters, brochures, and other graphics and advertisements. He was also a trained typographer and illustrator. In the late 1980s, he won an outstanding mention for a watercolor of a sailboat from a Stamford Art Club exhibition. In 2013 his mixed media painting, “Cows of Cornish” was accepted in a juried art exhibit in the Richards Library Art Center in his previous hometown of Newport, NH.
In the late 1990s, he enrolled in graduate school at the University of Rhode Island, majoring in clinical psychology, earning his master's, in 1998, and doctorate in 2001. After earning his doctorate, he embarked on a career in psychology and has developed and taught undergraduate and graduate psychology courses, published in leading psychology journals, and became a licensed clinical psychologist in the states of IL and NH. He is also a PSYPACT member which allows him to work with clients in his small, online, psychotherapy private practice.
Previously, he worked as an Associate Dean at Walden University, for 16 years, working his way up from contributing faculty, supervising faculty, developing curriculum, and leading university-wide initiatives, he decided to embark on creative and research opportunities. Dr. Ragsdale, as he is most commonly referred to in his NH community, continues to bring his zest for learning, creativity, research and evaluation, and social justice.
In his New England-based art studio, Brian continues to develop as a multi-hyphenate, he is finishing his first book that explores how identity develops, screenplays, poetry, creating fine art drawings and paintings, and digital graphic art images. His latest work examines African American beauty, how racial identity is presented in art, and social justice themes relating to freedom, joy, and happiness.
Statement
On my wall, I have these inspirational messages. "Fear Always Exists, Be Brave" "You Do You Boo" "The Seven Chakras" and a quote by Steve Jobs, "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
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