Meet Lyric Dunagan, Our Development Assistant

My name is Lyric Dunagan, and I will be replacing Kara Schmieg as the Development Assistant at Firefly Farms and the Sundress Academy for the Arts. I am so excited to fill this position because in short, everything about Sundress Academy excites me. We are well on our way to being one of the largest (and in my opinion, first amazing-est!) Artist’s Colony in the United States! If that’s not thrilling, I don’t know what is! When I “took the leap” in deciding that Creative Writing was what I wanted to study and do, I had no idea how it would pan out. I never dared to dream that I would have the opportunity to be so involved in a project so fulfilling. With a multitude of projects and events, including not just writing but also bookmaking, art, forestry, carpentry and many more, Sundress Academy for the Arts is to me the epitome of a writer’s paradise.

I came to Knoxville from Bristol, Tennessee and Bristol Tennessee High School. Relocating to Knoxville was an amazing experience for me. I felt as though my whole world blew up. Never before had I had the privilege of being surrounded by such a variety of intelligent, passionate and often off-the-wall people. I grew to love everything about Knoxville because I feel as though it is the best of both worlds – small enough for a sense of community and neighborliness, but large enough to be exciting on the weekends, and occasionally make a headline.

I graduated from the University of Tennessee in May 2013, and I am currently preparing my graduate school applications. I have had the pleasure of being involved in day-to-day operations at Firefly Farms/Sundress Academy for almost a year in varying capacities. I’ve done everything from clearing pasture, running electricity and drywalling to editing manuscripts and writing press releases. I am deeply passionate about the success of Sundress Academy for the Arts, and I could not be more honored to fill this position.