FGCU Professor of Art Andy Owen died on June 21 following a three-month battle with cancer.
For 17 years, Andy Owen taught multiple levels of drawing and printmaking. He played an instrumental role in the formation of FGCU’s permanent art collection and his recent participation in the Ukrainian Print Exchange demonstrated his unwavering belief in the power of art in times of crisis.
Beginning in the mid- ‘70s, Owen drew inspiration for his work from the waters surrounding Southwest Florida and the 10,000 islands. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, his work increasingly reflected a concern with local water quality issues, red tide, fish kills and the degradation of our environment.
Owen’s work garnered numerous awards throughout his career and was regularly exhibited in regional, national and international exhibitions.
To celebrate his legacy, the FGCU Art Program will organize a student-centered steamroller printmaking workshop later this year to honor the collaborative process he championed and helped pioneer.
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In a statement released on Thursday, the FGCU faculty described Owen as “a vital part of our art community - a master printmaker of international renown, an inspiring teacher, a dedicated mentor, and a remarkable human being. Andy’s creative vision and collaborative spirit left an indelible mark on our students, faculty, and the wider arts community. His passing leaves a profound void in our school and in our hearts.”
“[Andy] cared for us all, provided, enriched, taught, advocated, adventured, loved nature, dogs and us,” commented longtime friend Chris Yardly. “Andy was an extraordinary educator, dedicated to student creators, and an artistic innovator with a comedic wit and acidic spot-on metaphors.”
Owen often sought refuge in Southwest Florida’s peaceful waterways and the isolation they offer. “My work is motivated by the idea that the natural environment is a complex and meaningful balance of the sublime that is essential to our well-being rather than a commodity to be parsed, exhausted and profited from,” he elaborated in an Artist Statement that accompanied a 2022 exhibit.
Early in his career, Owen served as master printmaker at Littleton Studios in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Harvey Littleton developed vitreography (in which prints are made using a 3/8-inch-thick float glass matrix instead of the traditional matrices of metal, wood or stone) and established the process as a printmaking medium. Littleton, along with Erwin Eisch, also founded the international studio glass movement.
FGCU’s permanent collection includes more than 80 works from the Littleton Studios Collection. As one of the first major gifts to the FGCU Art Galleries, it set the standard for collecting internationally recognized contemporary artists. “The Littleton Collection demonstrates the diversity and beauty of glass matrix printing and establishes vitreography as an important medium of artistic expression,” wrote Owen about the collection at the time of the gift by Carol Littleton Shay.
Owen had a B.F.A from the University of Florida and a M.F.A from the University of Arizona, both in printmaking.
He is survived by his wife Pinrat (Nuch) Owen and their dog Echo, his brother, Paul Owen, and his mother, Renee Moreland.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
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