ATLANTA -- The College of the Arts proudly presents the honorees of the 2025 Outstanding Faculty and Staff Awards. This year’s cohort of exceptional individuals includes:
- Outstanding Faculty Award in Service: Robbie Land, School of Film, Media & Theatre
- Outstanding Faculty Award in Teaching: Jess Jones, Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design
- Outstanding Faculty Award in Research and Creative Activity: Kate Fortmueller, School of Film, Media & Theatre
- Outstanding Junior Faculty Award: Adewálé Adénlé, Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design
- Outstanding Staff Award: Kaylee Bramlett, School of Music
The annual awards honor outstanding College of the Arts faculty and staff for their accomplishments and contributions to student success and elevating the arts at Georgia State University and beyond.
“It is an honor to recognize the accomplishments of our outstanding faculty and staff each year, and this year is no exception,” said College of the Arts Dean Chester Phillips. “Congratulations to each of our winners and thanks to each for your impact on the College of the Arts.”
Faculty award recipients were selected by their peers according to robust criteria, which consider publishing, research, exhibiting and performing, among other scholarly and artistic contributions to their fields.
The Outstanding Staff Award recognizes an individual for excellence in their area, promotes a positive and pleasant work environment, displays exceptional dependability, and consistently performs high-quality work, among other criteria.
Outstanding Faculty Award in Service
Robbie Land, Senior Lecturer, School of Film, Media & Theatre
Robbie Land works in a variety of mediums, specifically utilizing digital media with 16mm and 35mm film to produce experimental animation and live-action films. Land has worked on numerous projects as a cinematographer and sound engineer in both studio and field production, science documentaries, music videos, television commercials and feature films. This includes working with PBS, Good Machine Productions and The Kitchen, New York and The Florida Lightning Research Facility.
A selection of Land’s screenings includes “Mono No Aware” in New York; Kunst Film Biennale Cologne; Museum Do Chiado in Lisbon; National Weather Center’s Biennale, Norman, Okla.; and the Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia, Atlanta, among others.
An Artadia Fellow, Land received grants from New Forms Grant and Interbay Cinema Society Grant. He serves as a panelist for the Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs Arts organization.
Outstanding Faculty Award in Teaching
Jess Jones, Associate Professor, Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design
Textile artist Jess Jones is an associate professor of textiles and an affiliate faculty member with the Institute of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Jones received her M.F.A. in fibers from East Tennessee State University with an undergraduate background in painting, drawing, and printmaking. Jones's work examines psycho-geography, textiles' relationship to the urban environment, and the creation of digitally-derived layered and stitched compositions.
Outstanding Faculty Award in Research and Creative Activity
Kate Fortmueller, Associate Professor, School of Film, Media & Theatre
Dr. Kate Fortmueller is the author of “Below the Stars: How the Labor of Working Actors and Extras Shapes Media Production” (long-listed for the Kraszna-Krausz Moving Image Book Award), “Hollywood Shutdown: Production, Distribution, and Exhibition in the Time of COVID” (both University of Texas Press, 2021). Among Fortmueller’s major accomplishments are the publication of “Hollywood Unions” where she contributed three chapters and the co-authored the introduction to the collection, and the completion of a co-authored book manuscript, tentatively titled “Boom and Bust: Hollywood Labor in the Age of Streaming” with Miranda Banks (forthcoming from University of California Press in 2026). Her research on film and television labor has appeared in journals including Film History, the Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television, Media Industries and a variety of edited collections.
In addition to her scholarly work, Formueller has published in the Los Angeles Review of Books and The Washington Post and has served as an expert commentator on Hollywood labor for publications including The Atlantic, The Hollywood Reporter, NPR and Variety.
Outstanding Junior Faculty Award
Adewálé Adénlé, Assistant Professor, Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design
Adéwálé Adénlé ’s three-dimensional paintings and drawings navigate the intricate dualities, spirituality, and visceral sensibilities of his indigenous African cultural-political metaphors and identity to critique dominant contemporary contexts. By employing repurposed materials and oil paints, he creates visual disruptions—penetrating his elevated pictorial space—to challenge conventional histories and systems.
For over two decades, Adénlé has exhibited his work across three continents and has taught visual arts at various universities and K-12 programs in the U.S. From 1986 to 2007, his critical aesthetics and political cartoons addressing global socio-political issues were published daily in major newspapers in Nigeria, the UK, and the U.S., culminating in his book "Mixed Feelings" (2000). Among Adénlé’s numerous accolades are the 2000 Reuters Foundation Award in the UK/Spain and the 2022 Benetta Jules-Rosette Doctoral Award from the Association of Africanist Anthropology, part of the American Anthropological Association.
His public projects include a monumental mural at the Philadelphia International Airport (WON Mural Project) and the 13 ft. x 8 ft. cast bronze sculpture "Congo Square" (2010) in Louis Armstrong Park, New Orleans. Adénlé holds an M.A. in Museum Studies, M.F.A. in Painting/Drawing, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Arts Administration, Education, and Cultural Policy at the Ohio State University.
Outstanding Staff Award
Kaylee Bramlett, PR Coordinator, School of Music
Kaylee Bramlett is a dynamic force in public relations and marketing with a wealth of experience that spans both administrative and instructional roles. She finds immense joy in celebrating the achievements of GSU School of Music’s students, faculty and alumni.
Bramlette served as the administrative coordinator for the School of Music and the administrative assistant for the GSU Band program. She spent eight years honing her skills in event coordination and public relations. Her contributions have significantly enhanced the program's public presence, facilitating numerous events and appearances nationwide.
Bramlett taught elementary music in Paulding County while maintaining a thriving music studio with an expertise in flute instruction. She is a prominent figure in the Atlanta theater scene, performing in productions such as “Sweeney Todd,” “Titanic,” and “Suessical the Musical,” among others.