About Melissa Arrant
Melissa Arrant is an art historian and spiritual and inspirational speaker. She graduated in May of 2015 from Florida State University with a Master’s in the History and Criticism of Art with a focus on the Visual Cultures of the Americas. She has a passion for education and has taught courses at the college level for seven years. In her free time, she enjoys expressing her creativity through painting, photography, and drawing.
Melissa is a practicing agnostic Buddhist and an active supporter of interfaith teachings. She believes in the unifying nature of LOVE and COMPASSION on the path of spiritual seeking. She is currently studying Spiritual Education and Enrichment at Unity Worldwide Spiritual Institute with the goal of pursuing a ministerial path.
Melissa has been an active member of Unity Spiritual Center of Panama City since 2016. In addition to teaching, writing about, and creating art, Melissa writes her own talks and speaks regularly as part of the Spiritual Leadership Team. In 2022, Melissa completed online training to become a licensed and certified Prayer Chaplain Program Trainer through Light and Love Ministries. She currently serves as Lead Prayer Chaplain for Unity Spiritual Center of Panama City.
Education
A.A. in Business Administration from Gulf Coast State College
B.A. in the History and Criticism of Art with Honors from Florida State University
M.A. in the History and Criticism of Art from Florida State University
Studying Spiritual Education and Enrichment at Unity Worldwide Spiritual Institute
Certifications
- Licensed and Certified Prayer Chaplain Program Trainer, Light and Love Ministries, 2022 – Current
- Certified APPQMR Online Facilitator, 2020 – 2022
- Certified INTRO2QM Online Facilitator, 2020 – 2022
- Higher Education Peer Reviewer, 2019 – 2022
- QM Instructional Designers Association, 2021 – 2022
Research Interests
Pre-Columbian and Native American Art, Southeastern Iconography, Native American Culture in Modern and Contemporary Popular Media, American Political Cartoons, American Comics, Sequential Art, Gender Studies, and Buddhist Art
Awards and Honors
2015 I. N. Winbury Award, Florida State University
2013 – 2015 Graduate Research Assistantship, Florida State University
2012 Helen J. Beard Undergraduate Scholarship for Excellence in the Major, FSU
2011 Bess H. Ward Honors Thesis Award, Florida State University
2010 – 2011 Returning Student Scholarship, Florida State University
2007 One of three ‘Inspirational Women’ by Kraft Foods, as part of the Wheat Thins Women’s Expressions campaign. As part of this campaign, my image and artwork were featured on the back of select boxes of Wheat Thins, and on the Wheat Thins website in 2007. My image was also featured in advertorials published in the March 2007 editions of House & Garden, Glamour, Self, and Domino.
Unpublished Papers
2015 “Revitalizing Sequoyan: Peoplehood and Identity Negotiation in Cherokee Art”
2015 “Is Sequoyah Really Sequoyah? Ambiguity and Tension in a ‘Reluctant Monument'”
2014 “Primal Impressions: Threefold Primacy of the Lupa Capitolina in Marliani’s 1544 Urbis Romae Topographia”
2014 “Multivalency and Dualism: Bedford Mounds Platform Effigy Pipes as Renewed Social Objects”
2014 “A Valley of Boundaries: Permeability and Accessibility at Glendalough”
2014 “School Begins: Louis Dalrymple’s Mapping of the ‘Pretty Fiction’ of Consent”
2014 “Elusive Identity: Reevaluating the Excavation and Burials at Lake Jackson Mound 3”
2013 “Experiencing the Microcosm of Lascaux Through the Roaring Stag: An Integrated Approach”
2013 “The Monuments of Zazacatla: Recarved Idols in the Caves of the Community Ritual Mountain”
2013 “Apalachee Identity and Recognition: A Study of State Agency Heritage Management and a Call for a Joined-up Approach”
2011 Undergraduate Honors Thesis, Parallel Images: Gender, Complementarity, and Ritual in the Lintels of Yaxchilan
Curated Exhibitions
2016 “Chipola College Student Art Show” at Chipola College, Jointly Curated with Noah Verrier