E.F. Hebner, professor emeritus of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Art, beloved teacher, artist, friend, colleague, and intellectually delightful inquisitive of art and life, died on the evening of March 9, 2010.

“Hebe,” as he was known to all who knew him, joined the painting and drawing faculty at Ohio State in 1956. In the early sixties, he spearheaded the founding of “Expanded Arts,” an experimental cross-media and multidisciplinary program that brought sound, light, time, sculpture, painting, film, photography, dance, theatre, and visual arts together into a learning laboratory in Room 330 Hayes Hall. One of the most innovative degree granting programs in arts academia, it remained in the forefront of avant garde concepts in art and studio practice for many decades.

David Covey, former student and current dance professor said, “He showed us how to open our minds in ways we had never imagined, and that openness stays with me today as an integral part of who I am as a person and as a teacher.”

Born in 1926, he received his BFA from Washington University in St. Louis and his MFA from Indiana University, Bloomington. He was profoundly influenced by his studies with the acclaimed German Expressionist, Max Beckman. Hebner first presented his work to the public in 1947, going on to participate in over 170 exhibitions across the country. His paintings, drawings, prints and collages are held in numerous public and private collections. His performance and installation work, many created with long-time collaborator and life-partner, Vera “Vickie” Blaine (Chair Emeritus, Department of Dance) were presented in venues throughout the Midwest and New York.

Within the past year, Hebner’s work was presented at the Urban Arts Space in a solo exhibition Excerpts…2009 and most recently in Gesture (inclusive) at the Hopkins Hall Gallery. His work will also be on view in the upcoming Gesture (inclusive) at the Kuhn Gallery OSU Marion this April.

Tom Wachunas, ARTWATCH blog author and artist wrote, “What Hebner has accomplished is a meditative calligraphy that is both intensely private and immediately accessible. As viewers, we become privy to exposed essences floating in a kind of dream state. And as with all good dreams, these images resonate and linger, gentle in their clamoring to be remembered.”

An Exhibition and  Memorial Celebration of E. F. Hebner's life and art will take place at the Hopkins Gallery this June. The Memorial Celebration will be on Saturday, June 19th, from 3–5pm. Please RSVP to gill.1@osu.edu. The exhibition will be open to the public from June 21– July 2, 2010.

By Prudence Gill, Hopkins Hall Art Gallery Director

Above Image: E. F. Hebner, Pair, acrylic on masonite, 19x17” (This work is featured in New American Paintings: Juried Exhibition-in-Print; Open Studios Press; 2009)