Painter Brent Funderburk was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He earned a bachelor of fine arts and a master of fine arts at East Carolina University in 1976 and 1978. He teaches art at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, where he has been a professor in the Department of Art for 33 years. He was awarded the John Grisham Faculty Excellence Award as well as the Burlington Northern Teaching Excellence Award.
He creates large watercolor paintings on paper, primarily of nature. He has exhibited widely in regional, national and international exhibitions; and has shown in 22 one-person exhibitions across Mid-America and the South.
Brent Funderburk designed the signature image for the 2010 USA International Ballet Competition (IBC) in Jackson. His painting Wave (Reclamation) was selected to join the permanent collection of the Mississippi Museum of Art, in Jackson, MS.