Robert S. Hunter has been making Art since he was a little boy growing up in New Jersey . His first installation piece was a wall of dinosaur drawings he put up in his bedroom at the age of 8. His interest in Art continued through adolescence resulting in a Bachelor of Science degree from James Madison University with a major in Art. He continued his study of Art earning a Masters degree in studio Art at James Madison University. Mr. Hunter has since done post graduate study at Virginia Commonwealth University, Maryland Institute of Art and Design, the Virginia Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
During the first five years after recieving his Master's degree Mr.Hunter was a practicing artist but then as a favor to a friend he agreed to substitute as a high school Art teacher while his friend recovered from an injury. As a substitute teacher he discovered that he liked the energy of the classroom and consequently he returned to James Madison University and completed all the classes necessary to become a certified Art teacher. His first teaching position was at Colonial Beach High School in Colonial Beach Virginia and this is where he has remained for 28 years.
As an Art educator Mr. Hunter has been the Art teacher of the year for the central region of Virginia, a Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation Fellow, was selected as a member of the Teacher's Institute of Contemporary Art at the Chicago Art Institute and has published numerous articles in School Arts Magazine and in Arts and Activities Magazine - both professional journals for Art Education. In 2002 he was selected as one of ING's unsung heroes of American Public Education. Mr. Hunter's colored pencil drawings have been published in three different books focusing on that medium. Currently his artwork has a major digital componet which was inspired through his study of digital imagining at the Coccoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. There he completed 18 hours of course work to earn a post graduate certificate in electronic publishing. In the past 3 years Mr. Hunter has recieved local and regional awards for his digital printmaking, showing his work regularly at the Fredericksburg Center for the Creative Arts in Fredericksburg VA.During April 2007 his work was selected to be in a National exhibition entitled ''Current Work 2007'' held at the Rosethal Gallery at Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville NC. In June 2007 his work was selected to be shown in ''Images 2007'' an exhibition at Penn State University's Roberson Gallery as part of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. When asked about his duel occupations as both Artist and Teacher Mr. Hunter laughingly replies ''Its alittle like juggling a flaming torch, a very sharp sword, and a 16 pound bowling ball. You have to be strong, flexible, determined, and alittle bit crazy.However the rewards of empowering students to believe in their own abilities to create and appreciate art in tandem with producing my own artwork provides a sense of satisfaction and achievement that could never be equaled. I consider myself a very lucky man."
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