HAS Professor Christopher Horton Dies
Posted: 1/17/2005

Christopher N. Horton
Christopher N. Horton, professor emeritus of experimental studio at the Hartford Art School, died of leukemia on Jan. 1 at the age of 68.

Horton, who retired in 1999 after 30 years of teaching, was known for his devotion and dedication to his students. In 1997 he received the university’s Roy E. Larsen Award for Excellence in Teaching.

In nominating him for the Larsen Award, colleagues praised Horton for his innovative courses and his extensive work in planning and organizing the All-University Curriculum and developing both the undergraduate and graduate curriculum of the Hartford Art School. He served as a tutor for students in the University Scholars Program and the university-wide Undergraduate Research and Creativity Colloquium.

Horton’s wife of 39 years, Sherryl “Sherry” Worthy Horton, is the former director of the university’s Center for Reading and Writing and was an instructor in the Department of Rhetoric, Language and Culture.

Together, Chris and Sherry Horton founded and directed the Cummington (Mass.) Community of the Arts from 1968 to 1972. Interested in the social and cultural interaction of art and its context, Chris frequently was invited to lecture, serve as visiting artist, take part in panel discussions, and publish in a variety of forums. In 1990 he received a grant from the University of Rhode Island to create a 30-by-5-foot mural consisting of topological maps showing the effect of rising temperatures on coastal sea levels.

Horton’s art—a diverse collection of abstract and realist drawing, painting, and sculpture—has been exhibited throughout New England and beyond. His sculpture titled Calculus is located in the courtyard of the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington.

A graduate of Amherst College, Horton received a master’s degree in painting from Wesleyan University and did postgraduate study at the Tyler School of Art in Rome. He served in the U.S. Army in Korea and had previously taught in Suffield, Conn., schools and at Wesleyan University before joining the University of Hartford faculty in 1968.

In addition to his wife, Horton is survived by son Joshua and daughter-in-law Alison of Hyde Park, N.Y.; son Tobiah of Syracuse, N.Y.; brother Timothy, sister-in-law Margaret, and niece Elizabeth of Martinsville, N.J.; nephew Brendan and family of Silver Springs, Md.; and Worthy family members. The family expressed its appreciation of the dedication of doctors, nurses, and staff of John Dempsey Hospital, Farmington, and Dana Farber/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, and extended thanks to the anonymous stem-cell donor.

A public celebration of Horton’s life and work will be held at the Hartford Art School on June 26, 2005. Donations may be made to the Chris Horton Scholarship Fund, Attn: Nancy Rogers, Hartford Art School, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Ave., West Hartford, CT 06117.