John Hendrix installed as Kenneth E. Hudson Professor of Art
2023-01-30 • Sam Fox School
John David Hendrix (second from left), the Kenneth E. Hudson Professor of Art, with Sam Fox School Dean Carmon Colangelo, Washington University Provost Beverly Wendland, and College and Graduate School of Art Director Amy Hauft. Photo: Dan Donovan / Washington University.
On January 26, 2023, John Hendrix, professor and founding chair of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture program, was installed as the Kenneth E. Hudson Professor of Art at Washington University in St. Louis.
The program included welcoming remarks by Carmon Colangelo, the Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School and E. Desmond Lee Professor for Collaboration in the Arts; an introduction by Amy Hauft, director of the College and Graduate School of Art and the Jane Reuter Hitzeman and Herbert F. Hitzeman, Jr. Professor of Art; and the installation and medallion presentation by Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Beverly R. Wendland.
John Hendrix, founding chair of the Sam Fox School’s MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture program, delivered the lecture “Drawn Together” during his installation ceremony as the Kenneth E. Hudson Professor of Art.
Photo: Dan Donovan / Washington University
Hendrix began his talk titled “Drawn Together” with an expression of gratitude. “As artists, we work our whole lives to get people to pay attention to us, and then it happens and then it feels like too much,” he noted.
He also thanked his family for their support, including his parents. “They gave me a simple gift which was just giving me space to be myself. I know, after teaching many young artists, that that is no small gift,” Hendrix shared.
Washington University Provost Beverly Wendland bestows Kenneth E. Hudson Professor of Art medallion onto Professor John Hendrix.
Photo: Dan Donovan / Washington University.
Carmon Colangelo, the Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, and John Hendrix, the Kenneth E. Hudson Professor of Art.
Photo: Dan Donovan / Washington University.
Michael Byron (left), Kenneth E. Hudson Professor of Art Emeritus, and John Hendrix, Kenneth E. Hudson Professor of Art.
Photo: Dan Donovan / Washington University.
Sam Fox School students celebrating with Professor Hendrix at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.
Photo: Dan Donovan / Washington University.
Professor Jeff Pike (left) with Hendrix and D. B. Dowd, professor and director of the D. B. Dowd Modern Graphic History Library. Photo: Dan Donovan / Washington University.
Photo: Dan Donovan / Washington University.
Hendrix is a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator. His books include The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler, named a Best Book of 2018 by NPR, Drawing is Magic: Discovering Yourself in a Sketchbook, Miracle Man: The Story of Jesus, and many others. His work has appeared in numerous publications, such as Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Esquire, The New York Times, Time Magazine, and National Geographic, among many others. In 2021, he was named Educator of the Year in Illustration by 3x3 Magazine.
The Kenneth E. Hudson Professorship in the College and Graduate School of Art pays tribute to an outstanding national leader in art education.
Installation ceremony of John Hendrix as the Kenneth E. Hudson Professor of Art on January 26, 2023.
About Kenneth E. Hudson
Kenneth E. Hudson served as dean of the Washington University School of Fine Arts (as it was known) from 1938-1969. Appointed in the School’s 59th year, Hudson was its third dean, following the tenure of Halsey C. Ives (1879-1909) and Edmund H. Wuerpel (1909-1938).
Hudson earned a BFA from Yale University followed by two years of advanced study in painting in Belgium. Prior to becoming dean, he served as chairman of the art department at the University of Missouri and chairman of the art department at the University of Oregon.
Hudson had a profound impact on art education in the St. Louis region and nationally. Under his stewardship, the School of Fine Arts curriculum was entirely revised, creating a four-year program that became the BFA degree in 1941. He also helped found the national accrediting organization for schools of art. Hudson had a gift for identifying and persuading leading members of the art world to join Washington University’s faculty. Philip Guston, Max Beckmann, Paul Burlin, Fred Becker, and Arthur Osver are representative of the talent he brought to campus.