This Thursday Averett University will hold its annual Founders’ Day event at 11:15 am in Pritchett Auditorium in Averett’s Violet T. Frith Fine Arts Center (150 Mountain View Ave.). This year’s program will include alumni and community speakers, and will be in honor of the late Professor Robert Marsh who taught art at Averett for 54 years before passing away in October.

This year’s alumni speakers include Jordan Silveira ’14, Camden Whitehead ’76 and Hampton Wilkins ’73, ’87, as well as community guest Rick Barker, a close friend of Marsh’s.

Professor Marsh began teaching at Averett in 1969. He was the most senior tenured faculty member with more than 50 years of teaching at the University. He was a well-known artist locally, regionally and nationally and was the 1984 recipient of the W.C. Bradley Fellowship. He was described as one of Virginia’s most distinguished artists, and his work has been shown in galleries and museums across the country.