Terry is 88, and still paints in his studio two or three days a week. He says he loves working at K12 because “it’s filled with so much good energy and there are artists of all ages to talk to.”
Terry Hitt in His downtown studio at @k12galleryandtejas
When I first photographed and wrote about Terry seven years ago I called him a philosopher painter. That was partly because he was a pastor before becoming an art professor at the University of Dayton. It was also because of one of his past art projects, which I learned more about during my visit to Terry’s studio last week.
When he was teaching at UD, Terry and then eventually some of his students did a series of drawings of some of Dayton’s homeless people. The drawings were exhibited under the title “Portraits of Homelessness” and received national attention.
As he was starting this project I learned that Terry got advice from one of the twentieth century’s greatest photographers, Gordon Parks, about how to build a connection with his subjects. As it turned out, those connections continued after Terry’s art project was concluded. Terry told me how he was able to help some of the people he had sketched and also about how the project led him to some interesting adventures. If you want to know more you’ll have to drop by K12 some afternoon when Terry is painting.
