Major in Film

Mr. Kirk Demarais is a graduate of JBU and served as an adjunct professor in the Visual Arts department since 2006. He previously worked for DaySpring cards as a member of the Web and New Media team for ten years before establishing himself as a freelance designer, artist, and writer.

Mr. Demarais's fascination with vintage toys, novelties, and 20th century pop culture has inspired two published works, "Life of the Party," a visual history book of the S.S. Adams Prank and Magic company (for whom he was employed as a package and catalog designer), and "Mail-Order Mysteries" which offers a rare look at mail-order products from vintage comic books. The latter appeared on annual best-of lists in USA Today and the Boston Globe, and placed on the Wall Street Journal Bestsellers list.

His enthusiasm for retro-culture has also manifested in an award-winning short film called "Flip" as well as "Foot," an animated film he co-created which was distributed by the toy company FunKo.

His pop-surrealist artwork is regularly shown and sold in Los Angeles and New York City galleries, and has received international attention, as well as support among the Hollywood community.

Mr. Demarais's writing has been seen in The LA Times, BoingBoing.net, and magazines including Comic Art, Make, and Reminisce. His body of work has been featured or cited in Wired, Rolling Stone, Huffington Post, Slashfilm, FastCompany, Print Magazine, Flavorwire, New York Post and many more.

Mr. S. Neal Holland began his career at John Brown University in 1998 as the first full-time instructor in Digital Media Art. 

Mr. Holland received his B.A. in Telecommunication from Ouachita Baptist University.  Soon after graduating, he moved to the Dallas metro area to pursue educational opportunities from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  While studying there, he earned an M.A. in Communication and taught courses in video and photography as the SWBTS Presidential Teaching Fellow recipient.  Soon after earning his masters degree, Mr. Holland returned to Southwestern to teach as an adjunct instructor until leaving the Dallas area.

An amazing opportunity helped to propel Mr. Holland into digital media in 1993.  He was offered a job by a ground level digital boutique (RISE International) servicing the Dallas area. This small boutique grew from a start-up business to a major digital media provider for national and international fortune 500 clients like Coca-Cola, Reebok, Nike, and General Motors.

Mr. Holland left RISE International for JBU in 1998 - That first year welcomed him with six returning students (returning from the inaugural year of the degree program) and six new freshmen.  The program grew from there to be the largest major in the university, before eventually dividing resources and combining with what is now the Art Department.  Mr. Holland has served department head for both the communication and art departments.  He completed an M. F. A. in digital cinema with National University in 2006.

Mr. Holland has been a champion of non-traditional programs and study-abroad partnerships, and he continues to head a series of programs to promote off-campus study.  His work with the start-up Fields and Frames promotes that desire and helps photography students get international experience while encouraging the responsibility for Christians to engage with social justice issues.

The Holland’s (Neal and Shannon) have one son, Taylor. Mr. Holland spends his free-time fly fishing, firing handguns, printing in the darkroom or print lab, and attempting to capture illusive images that might change the world.