Ralph N. Hurst
IF YOU’VE VISITED the UT Martin campus in the last 32 years, chances are you’ve seen the work of Ralph N. Hurst. Hurst, a native of Decatur, Indiana, moved to Tallahassee, Florida, in 1952 and joined the faculty at Florida State University in 1957 as a professor of art. Over his 27-year tenure at FSU, he taught ceramics, woodworking, and art education. He remained at FSU until 1984, when he retired to become an artist full-time.
While he primarily worked with stone as a sculptor creating three-dimensional carvings of figures, birds, animals, and fish, Hurst was also a painter, ceramist, designer, and architect who worked in diverse materials including wood, metal, marble, and alabaster.
Since his first major competitive exhibition “American Sculpture 1951” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and “Art USA: ’58” at Madison Square Garden in New York, Hurst continued – in the words of Patricia Boyd Wilson of The Christian Science Monitor in April 1973 – “to stand preeminent among sculptors in the United States.”
Following several years of work after his retirement, Hurst met and married Dr. Jean M. English in 1990. English came to UTM as English department chair, and that same year, Hurst began a new chapter at UT Martin as an artist-in-residence, a role he would hold for three years.
During his time at UTM, Hurst demonstrated his versatility in various media when he painted “Field of Wild Irises No. 1 and No. 2” for the Chancellors’ Conference Room in the Hall-Moody Administration Building. The paintings now hang in the office of the dean of the Paul Meek Library, Dr. Erik Nordberg.
Hurst also has sculptures on display in the Chancellor’s Office (“Lioness and Cub”), the Chancellors’ Conference Room (“Tropical Bird Form”), and the lobby of the Paul Meek Library (“Grosbeak Madonna”).
Perhaps his most visible work, however, is the “University of Tennessee at Martin Identification Wall” located north of the Hall-Moody Administration Building along University Steet. The sign has become an icon for the university, appearing in marketing photos and videos and offering a backdrop for visitors to campus for decades.
Hurst designed the sign to commemorate the campus’ 65th anniversary as part of the University of Tennessee System, and it was dedicated on Oct. 24, 1992.
Hurst died in 2003. In a brochure about the artist from 1993, Hurst said, “We live in a world of forms. Every visual moment, our lives are made more meaningful by natural and man-made forms. In my sculpture, the forms are created to have meaning and aesthetic quality.”
“From the Archives” is a feature highlighting unique and interesting items from the Alliene and Jimmie S. Corbitt Special Collections. For more information or to donate, contact UT Martin Special Collections and Archives at 731-881-7094 or speccoll@utm.edu.
