March 17, 2003

Raymond Hitchcock, Art Professor, Sculptor, Dies
By Sherry Fisher

Raymond Hitchcock, a professor emeritus of art, died March 2 at Mansfield Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. He was 65.

Hitchcock, a sculptor, joined the UConn faculty in 1964. He retired in 1992.

"Ray Hitchcock was an outstanding mentor to thousands of students," says Sal Scalora, director of the William Benton Museum of Art, and one of Hitchcock's former students.

Botany II, a terracotta sculpture by Ray Hitchcock, from an exhibit in the Benton Museum in 2000. File Photo

"He did that through example," says Scalora, noting that it was Hitchcock who influenced him to become a sculptor. "There were so many of us who got very excited about our education primarily because Ray made sculpture so exciting."

Hitchcock also gave his students an "amazing sense of the work ethic that is necessary to make permanent sculpture out of wood, bronze, and stone," Scalora says.

John Craig, a professor of art and art history, says Hitchcock was "a very dear friend, who was enthusiastic about life.

"Even after retirement, he continuously shared new ideas with people interested in his work, he says. "He always explored new venues for his artistic endeavors."

Hitchcock was creative not only in his studio and teaching, but also within his home, an historic silk mill on Hank's Hill Road in Storrs that he remodeled into living and studio space.

He also restored an adjacent pond and surrounded it with a sculpture garden.

"He lived out the full richness of a sculptor's potential life," Scalora says. "He had everything in sync."

Hitchcock received his bachelor's degree from Florida State University in 1961 and his master's degree from the University of Alabama in 1963. After graduation, he was a Fulbright Scholar in Helsinki, Finland.

His work is held in collections including the Museum of Modern Art. He was founder and supervisor of the Ceramic Shell Foundry Workshop in 1982, and founded the Yankee Foundry of the University of Connecticut in 1985.

His latest project, a photography exhibition, "Treasures of Hartford", will take place June 5 at the State Capitol Building.

Hitchcock is survived by three brothers, two sisters, two aunts, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Donations in Hitchcock's memory may be made to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 1004, Meriden, CT 06450-1004.