Dr. John Howett was posthumously awarded the Baker Award on April 15, 2009. In an outpouring of condolences and tributes, the life of John Howett was celebrated at Emory and the Carlos Museum. Howett came to Emory University in 1966 from the University of Notre Dame, he left a position as curator of a large art collection, housed in a new climate-controlled museum building, to join a fledgling department of art history installed in a house that had previously been a faculty residence on an edge of Emory’s campus. Emory had no program in studio art, and the only art objects available for study were part of an “archaeological” collection, housed in the basement of the School of Theology, that included some authentic and useful examples of Egyptian art (brought to Emory in 1919 by Professor William Shelton) buried among a miscellany of stuffed birds, minerals, and other curious items.

Howett wanted art history majors to experience actual works of art at close hand, rather than relying exclusively on slides and reproductions. As a former curator, he recognized the formidable obstacles posed by limitations of space, and especially funding, and recommended a study collection limited to works on paper--prints, drawings, and photographs. Over the years this collection grew slowly but steadily, through departmental funding, private donations, and the help of good relationships with a few dealers specializing in works on paper.  The long central corridor of Annex B became a gallery space for exhibiting the collection as well as the work of students in the studio art program. The collection became an important instructional aid for students, complementing the availability of the best artifacts in the archaeological collection at the School of Theology, which had relocated to the old law school building on the quadrangle.  The works on paper collection later became one of the core collections at Emory’s museum and is now displayed in the John Howett Works on Paper Gallery.

Faculty and students familiar with this painstaking but very promising strengthening and expansion of opportunities over the years could hardly have imagined the splendid resources that would ultimately become available to the entire university community--as well as to scholars and the general public within and well beyond the region--through the collections represented in today’s Michael C. Carlos Museum, all of it made possible through the generosity of the Carlos family and other donors, the dedicated efforts of President James T. Laney and Dr. Monique B. Seefried, and the tireless work of faculty members, curators, and museum staff.

In 1985 the art history department moved to splendid new quarters in one of the original early twentieth-century buildings on the quadrangle designed by Henry Hornbostel. The former law school building, now renamed Carlos Hall in honor of Atlanta philanthropist Michael C. Carlos, had been sensitively adapted to serve the needs of the department as well as the art and archaeology collections by the architectural firm of Michael Graves. John Howett had advised President Laney on the selection of Graves, as well as the earlier selection of architect Paul Rudolph to design Cannon Chapel, and represented Emory when the Graves design was given an Award of Excellence by the national American Institute of Architects (AIA).

One of Howett’s principal concerns when coming to Emory was to reach out to the arts communities of Atlanta and the southeast. He was elected to the boards of several art institutions over the course of his years at Emory, including the High Museum of Art, the Atlanta College of Art (where he delivered the Commencement Address in 1976), the Nexus Art Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Georgia, and the Brenau University Galleries. He also frequently lectured or served as visiting critic or juror at academic institutions around the state--the Atlanta College of Art, Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia, Georgia State, Spelman College, Oglethorpe University, Clayton College, Reinhardt College, LaGrange College--and elsewhere in the region. He joined colleagues from Georgia Tech in organizing the first southeastern chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, serving as the first chapter president in 1983-84.

Howett sustained his professional involvement with museum work over the course of many years by serving as curator for several exhibitions at the Carlos, among them The Woodcuts of Albrecht Durer in 1986 and Selected Drawings from the Collection in 1989.  He was also guest curator of two High Museum exhibitions tracing the origins of contemporary developments, The Modern Image in 1972 and The New Image in 1975, which were funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1984 Atlanta’s Heath Gallery mounted an exhibition of works by representatives of Atlanta’s avant-garde in Howett’s honor.

He received the Senior Council Teaching Award in 1982, the Williams Award for Teaching in the Humanities in 1993, and the Arts and Sciences Award of Distinction in 2002. This last award summed up John Howett’s contributions as “Teacher, Scholar, Curator, and Citizen of the University” with the following encomium:

We have been honored to witness almost your entire professional career as a scholar of Italian Renaissance and Contemporary American art, spanning thirty years at Emory University. You pioneered the creation of the Art History Department and later the Studio Art Program, serving seven years as Department Chair. Your efforts led to the rebirth of the Michael C. Carlos Museum, where your impact was so great that a room was named in your honor and an endowment established in your name. Your role as beloved teacher and mentor earned you the Emory Williams Award for Teaching in humanities. Your reach into the art world has extended far beyond Emory, as nearly every art institution in Atlanta has been touched by your wisdom, vision, and support. In the highest compliment that any practical man could hope to receive, Gudmund Vigtel, former director of the High Museum, said simply, “People have to listen to what he says because it makes good sense.” Your record of achievement and your loyalty to Emory University forever distinguish you as one of our most valued faculty members.

The Baker award is named in honor of Dr. Woolford B. Baker, the director of the former Emory University Museum, from 1953 to 1982, and is made possible through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R. Gladden. Dr. Woolford B. Baker was known for initiating education and community partnerships with schoolchildren and teachers and included Emory students and faculty in outreach and community-based programming. The existing education program, now in its 23rd year of service to school children and their families in Atlanta, continues this legacy in advancing the understanding of ancient cultures and their current socio-political significance.
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Image (Top): Dr. Jown Howett
Image (Middle): Catherine Howett Smith, Bonnie Speed, Catherine Howett, Dean Robert Paul, Margaret Shufeldt, and Elizabeth Hornor
Image (Bottom): Maeve Howett 82C 85N 97MN 06G, Catherine Howett Smith 84C 99G, Ciannat Howett Marose 87C;  Meghan 80C 83L, and Catherine Howett.