Fayetteville Technical Community College will unveil the presidential portrait of Dr. J. Larry Keen at 9 a.m. on Nov. 21 in the lobby of the Thomas R. McLean Administration Building.
Keen, who has served as FTCC’s president since August 2007, is retiring on Jan. 1, 2023.
His portrait will join those of other significant figures in FTCC’s history, including the College’s first three presidents: Howard E. Boudreau, who served from 1964-1983; Dr. R. Craig Allen, 1983-1996; and Dr. Larry B. Norris, 1997-2007. Like his predecessors, Keen is depicted in his academic regalia.
FTCC Foundation commissioned the portrait to honor Keen.
“FTCC, along with Fayetteville and the entire southeastern region of North Carolina, has been immensely blessed to have Dr. Larry Keen serve as our leader the last 15 years,” said Brad Hurley, chair of FTCC Foundation’s Board of Directors. “The FTCC Foundation has grown exponentially under his tenure and influence and we will certainly miss his guidance and support. Upon his retirement, we all wish him and Vicki nothing less than the very best for the coming years!”
The portrait was painted by Todd Carignan, a Wilmington artist who works in many mediums, including oils, watercolors and charcoal, and whose subjects range from portraits to landscapes to architecture to pop culture icons.
Carignan has won multiple awards for his art, including an Oil Painters of America Award of Excellence, and his art is included in collections throughout the United States and internationally. He teaches at the Museum School at Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington and at DREAMS of Wilmington, a nonprofit after-school arts education program for children. He received his BFA in Sequential Art and minored in Art History at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Other portraits in the lobby of the McLean administration building depict building namesake Thomas R. McLean, who served on the College’s Board of Trustees for 13 years; his wife, Elizabeth E. McLean, namesake of an FTCC student terrace donated in her honor by her husband; and Paul H. Thompson, the first chairman of the College’s Board of Trustees and the first president of the N.C. Association of the Community College Trustees.
FTCC was founded in 1961 as a job-training institution and became a community college in 1963 when the statewide Community College System was created. The College serves more than 28,000 students a year with occupational, technical, general education, college transfer and continuing education programs leading to more than 280 degrees, diplomas and certificates.
FTCC faculty and staff are invited to attend the unveiling, which is also open to the public.