Creation and commitment (WITH GALLERY)

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, March 19, 2025

By Heath Harrison

Artist Robert Hutton is seen speaking at a showing of a selection of his works at the Hutton Wayfarer Gallery in South Point in December 2024. (The Ironton Tribune | Heath Harrison)

Hutton remembered for artwork, teaching career

SOUTH POINT — One of the region’s most accomplished and acclaimed artists is being remembered for his dedication to his craft, as well as his impact on generations of students.

Former Marshall University fine arts professor Robert Hutton died March 10 at age 86.

Email newsletter signup

Dr. Mark Zanter, director of the Marshall University School of Art and Design, said they “extend our deepest condolences on the passing of Professor Emeritus Robert Hutton.”

An untitled painting by Robert Hutton, 2004, depicting Jesus and “Doubting Thomas,” was part of an exhibition at the Hutton Wayfarer Gallery in South Point on Dec. 14.

“His remarkable contributions to our school, along with his dedication to fostering creativity and excellence, have left an indelible mark on both our institution and the broader community,” Zanter said. “Our thoughts are with family, friends, and all who were touched by Robert’s work as a professor, artist and arts advocate.”

Hutton, who taught for 29 years at the university, before retiring in 1999, was also co-owner, with his wife Robin, of the Hutton Wayfarer Gallery in South Point.

“It’s a great loss for the art community,” Larry Rees, who teaches photography at the Huntington Museum of Art, and worked as an adjunct professor at Marshall said.

“Mr. Hutton was just a really nice guy,” Rees said, noting the artist’s constant outpouring of work, well into retirement. “He didn’t make a lot of noise and was soft spoken, and he was the most even keeled-guy I ever met.” 

A native of Pittsburgh, Hutton began his art career at the age of 16, when he created a piece, “Our Savior,” a sculptural head, depicting Jesus Christ, establishing the spiritual themes that would run through much of his seven-decade career.

Hutton worked in youth in commercial art studios and took night classes at Carnegie Mellon University, before, at the age of 20, entering the Society of the Divine Word, serving as a lay brother for five years in New York and Illinois.

“Lord, Save Me,” one of a series of Gospel-themed paintings Robert Hutton produced in 2022.

While in the order, he continued to work as an artist, producing illustrations and taking painting courses at the Chicago Art Institute. From there, he earned a B.F.A. in painting from Carnegie Mellon University, and an M.F.A. in drawing and sculpture at Penn State University.

He began teaching at Marshall University in 1970, as a professor in art, with classes including drawing, watercolor painting, 3-D design, figure drawing and overseeing the school’s sculpture program.

Former graphics design professor Mary Grassell worked alongside Hutton in the department for seven years.

“He was one of the established professors when I started in 1992,” she said. “I respected him a great deal, and he was always respectful of me.”

Grassell described Hutton as “a force for the students,” and said he closely followed the skills and progress of those he instructed.

“He paid attention to each student,” she said.

She said Hutton was also vocal on the needs of students and other faculty members.

“He was an activist,” she said. “He was always outspoken and not afraid to speak up or be unpopular. And he was always respected.”

Following his retirement from the university, Hutton, as professor emeritus, concentrated on working full time as an artist from his home studio.

Robert Hutton was commissioned by Marshall University to create a 13-foot-long puzzle-tile mural for renovations to the school’s education building in 2019. Consisting of 440 pieces, the artwork, one of the largest on Marshall’s campus, depicts the history of the university’s former lab school.

Among the notable works he produced were a bronze portrait commission of Dr. Charles Holzer Jr., on display at Holzer Health System’s Gallipolis location, as well as the puzzle tile mural, a 13-foot long piece that was unveiled, with great fanfare, in Marshall University’s Education Building in 2019.

Comprised of 440-individual ceramic tiles and taking three and a half years to complete, it depicts the history of the university’s former lab school, where Hutton began his teaching career (and met his wife, to whom he was married for more than five decades).

Hutton said he wanted to incorporate the grout lines of the work as part of the design, rather than use a traditional grid.

“I chose a more freeform style,” he told The Tribune in a 2019 interview. “But the lines between each piece bring harmony and unity.”

The work is divided into five panels, representing different aspects of education, such as students, teachers, sports, academics, theater, visual arts and graduation.

“I saw it all laid out, when I visited his studio,” Grassell said of viewing the work in progress. “And it was amazing.”

Also in 2019, Hutton, along with his wife, opened the Hutton Wayfarer Gallery on their farm.

The two-story building featured not only visiting exhibits from artists, but also housed a permanent, rotating collection of Hutton’s extensive career.

The gallery was named for “The Wayfarer,” one of Hutton’s paintings and a favorite of his works.

“Most artists have the natural human desire to communicate and touch people’s lives,” Hutton told The Tribune when he opened the gallery. “As a visual artist, I explore my own private world, and in the process, I discover personal meaning and truth. However, the final phase of the creative cycle is for others to share in the artist’s vision.”

Artist Robert Hutton is seen with his wife, Robin, at the Hutton Wayfarer gallery in South Point in 2019. Hutton, a former Marshall University professor with an acclaimed art career spanning more than six decades, died March 10 at age 86. (The Ironton Tribune | Heath Harrison)

The Huttons persevered through a number of challenges after the gallery’s opening – first, the COVID-19 pandemic, which curtailed social gatherings, followed by damage to the studios and building from a round of ice storms that hit the area in 2022.

But, most difficult of all, was a 2021 car accident that hindered Hutton’s mobility.

It was in recovery from those injuries, that Hutton showed his persistence and commitment to his art.

Beginning in bed, he returned to an extensive series of Gospel-themed works, which he had started in 2019, with oil pastels, which continued into a series of paintings.

“He had such perseverance,” Lillianne Bowersock, former owner of the Watercolor Dreams gallery in Huntington, said. “He was always so positive.”

She said she knew Hutton through her late husband, Bruce, a fellow artist who taught as an adjunct instructor at Marshall during Hutton’s tenure.

“They were always talking about art together,” she said of their visits in retirement. “It was their purpose.”

Another who recalled Hutton’s prolific work was Katherine Cox, a Willow Wood artist and former education director for the Huntington Museum of Art.

“I admired his passion and for being an unrelenting artist to the very end,” Cox, who had a solo show at Hutton’s gallery, said. “He was quietly productive, and I would like to have that unrelenting passion.”

Her husband, Jonathan, was hired as Hutton’s successor, teaching sculpture at Marshall for two decades.

He said that he saw Hutton’s character during the job search for the position.

“When I came to Marshall, he stayed out of the interviews and said he would stand back from the process,” he said. “And I could tell he was a really genuine, very kind person.

He said Hutton respected him in making the position his own, and said he would also be available to help, if needed.

“He was really wonderful, after I started” he said.

“The Elder,” a sculpture by Robert Hutton, on display at the Hutton Wayfarer Gallery in South Point.

Katherine Cox said she particularly admired Hutton’s clay sculpture work.

“I really liked those pieces,” she said. “You could see the movement of his hands in the clay. I’d like to be expressive like that in my work.”

Grassell said she drawn to Hutton’s watercolor work.

“I was really impressed with his series toward the end,” she said, describing his method as “revolutionary.”

She noted that rather than over painting colors, he experimented by having his colors side by side in the work.

Artist Robert Hutton is seen in his South Point studio in 2019. Hutton, a former Marshall University professor with an acclaimed art career spanning more than six decades, died March 10 at age 86. (The Ironton Tribune | Heath Harrison)

“They had a different life, and were vibrant,” she said. “The colors were bold and not subtle. And there was nothing subtle in any way about him”

Hutton’s work was exhibited in numerous locations and shows in his lifetime, including the New York Academy of Design and the Smithsonian’s traveling exhibit. 

Most recently, his work, “Ephaphatha: Be Open, was selected, then published in the September 2024 Give Us This Day, a monthly Catholic Devotional from Liturgical Press, that had a print run of 97,000 copies.

“He was a great man and a great artist,” Grassell said. “He will be missed in the community and by all in art.”

Hutton is survived by his wife; daughters, Rachael Barker and Emily Hutton LaGrow; siblings, Frank Hutton, Elizabeth Vinch, Mary Lynn Rankin and John W. Cleer, Jr.; as well as nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews; and his cousin and best friend, Wally Heron. 

A celebration of life, funeral Mass and eulogy will take place at 10 a.m. March 22 at Sacred Heart Church, located at 2015 Adams Ave. in Huntington, followed by receiving line / visitation with refreshments, slideshow and additional memory sharing in the parish hall until 1 p.m. Burial of urn will be private for family members. 

More Education

Ohio poet laureate to appear at MU

School news: Phi Kappa Phi elects two new members

Earning high praise (WITH GALLERY)

Showcasing history (WITH GALLERY)

Print Article

SportsPlus

  • Polls

    How closely are you following the U.S. Senate race in Ohio?

    View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...

  • Special Sections