Ron Haynie, Kneeling Figure, 1982. Gift of Hezbrun Bequst under American University Museum
“When you are a college student, you are one of many. Personal connections can be few and far between,” recalls Cara Ober (BFA art ’96). “Ron Haynie was a true nurturer and really cared about his students. As I have gone on to pursue a professional career in the arts, I have tried to keep a part of Ron’s generosity and spirit of community with me—and I thank him for that gift.”
Haynie, AU art professor and department chair from 2001 to 2004, died January 4. During his three and half decades at the university, he served as an inspiration to his students; through his vision and integrity, he helped to make the department what is today. “He placed a premium on authenticity,” says Luis Silva, chair of the art department. “He demanded and cultivated it within his own work and strove to create a culture for promoting it within his classes and within our program.”
Haynie’s relationship with AU began when he enrolled as a fine arts student in the 1960s. After receiving his BFA and MFA, he taught briefly at the former Dumbarton College in Washington, D.C., before joining AU’s art faculty in 1970. He also served as director of the Watkins Gallery and Collection and was instrumental in the founding of the Katzen Arts Center.
As an artist, Haynie was a self-described “color and light person” whose art prompted Washington Post critic Jo Ann Lewis to write that his work “reveals not only his ability to capture movement and gesture with just a few sweeping strokes of his brush but also his special gift for making an atmosphere out of color.”
Before the American University Museum, there was the Watkins Gallery, a 1,000-square-foot space located on the far west side of the main campus. Before that, the entire art department was housed in an army Quonset hut on campus grounds.
Despite their small size, these spaces regularly exhibited cuttingedge work that garnered significant attention from the D.C. community—sometimes positive, sometimes incredulous. “In the 1950s, our faculty curated the first [American] abstract expressionist show in D.C.,” recalls Glenna K. Haynie, senior art department administrator since 1968. “The reviews were hysterical. They thought we had lost our minds.”
The department’s pioneering spirit has been reflected in its exhibitions, permanent collection, and programs. Ben L. Summerford—professor emeritus, artist, and rotating department chair from 1950 to 1986— played an integral role in the development of AU’s maverick art exhibits and programs. A collection of his own work, simply titled Ben L. Summerford, will be on display at the American University Museum January 29–March 16.
“We have an incredible arts program here at AU, and there is no doubt in my mind that we have arrived in the place we are at as a
result of the legacy and teaching of a great number of prominent faculty members,” says Luis Silva, department chair. “Summerford left an impression on this institution that can still be felt today.” Says Haynie, “He was a big mover and shaker in the gallery, and his influence with important contacts brought a lot of work into the Watkins collection.” Summerford was also a celebrated teacher. His infectious enthusiasm for painting made him popular with his students. “I never heard a student of his say that they didn’t get something out of his classes,” Haynie says.
Summerford was also a key player in the Washington arts scene. In 1957, he cofounded Jefferson Place Gallery with several other area artists, including Robert Gates, William Calfee, and AU colleague Helene Herzbrun. The city’s first cooperative art gallery, it became the home of the Washington Color School, a group of artists whose abstract works influenced the Color Field movement.
After critically successful experiments with abstract expressionism in the 1950s, Summerford settled into what would become his signature style, which featured still lifes and landscapes rendered with soft strokes and an acute sensitivity to color and light. “He does a thing with color that not many artists are able to do,” says Haynie. “The way he handles them—it’s just luscious.”
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