School of Art and Design Alumni Exhibition 2021

Wellington B. Gray Gallery

Back to Alumni Exhibit main page

Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge

Janice Hardison Faulkner Gallery

Rock Kershaw
Graduated 1970

I met the love of my life at East Carolina in the summer of 1967. Her name is Vivian Carol Mallard Kershaw (BA, 1971). We have been married for 50 years. Our most impressive creations have been our two children, Katherine and Matthew.

I’ve had the honor of teaching art history at Pembroke State University. I served as the first general manager for the outdoor drama “Strike at the Wind!” in Pembroke, NC. We have moved all over the country, including the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where I served as assistant general manager of “The Lost Colony.” From there we moved to Chicago, where I served as general manager of North Light Repertory.

Texas called, and I spent 5 years as director of the Del Rio Council for the Arts. My daughter Katherine was born there. I managed the Plano Cultural Arts Center, where we had our son Matthew, and the Marshall Regional Arts Council, where I met Ray Charles, composer Phillip Glass and magician David Copperfield.

In 1988, we moved to Raleigh and I worked as director of Artspace, the Halle Cultural Arts Center in Apex, and Gallery C. I have been blessed to serve as Santa Claus for 18 years. I have created over 100 themed denim jackets that celebrate hot rods, Elvis Presley, Santa, sharks, mermaids, stars, cats, veterans and more.