Before coming to Andrew College in August of 2004, Mr. Allen received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in painting from Michigan State University in 1991 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from the University of Mississippi in 1995. As a graduate and adjunct instructor at Ole Miss, Mr. Allen taught introduction to art, beginning and advanced drawing courses and figure drawing. While living in Oxford, Mississippi, he also owned and operated ‘The Toybox’, an art supply, toy and video store for two years. 

Mr. Allen has previously worked in several fields. He has served as a special education paraprofessional working with students with autism; program coordinator for  Greater Lansing Artspace (in Lansing, MI); website production assistant; and commercial printer. He has also previously taught at the Watkins College of Art and Design in Nashville and Volunteer State University in Gallatin, TN. In addition to his educational work, Mr. Allen has created several commissioned pieces in both Michigan and Tennessee. 

Mr. Allen has traveled throughout Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, New York, California, Texas, South Carolina, London England, Jamaica, the Bahamas and Sweden (the birthplace of his lovely wife Kristina). On October 31 of 2003, the Allen family was blessed with a new addition, a baby girl named Hanna Mae Allen.