Distinguished Alumni Award

Alfred Hinton, 67BA, is one of the country's premier mixed-media artists and, for the past 22 years, a tenured professor of art at the University of Michigan.

Hinton studied for his degree in art at the University of Iowa on an athletic scholarship, and he excelled in both fields, balancing the demands of his art classes and his commitment to his football scholarship. A former Iowa football star, named Iowa's most valuable player and Coaches Association All-American in 1961, he originally chose a career in professional football after graduation. Eventually, he switched back from football to fine art, enrolling in graduate school and then embarking on a teaching career.

Hinton's gifts as an artist and teacher have been widely recognized. His works have been viewed in solo and group exhibitions, public and corporate collections, and in articles and reviews throughout the U.S. and the rest of the world, and he has received many awards and honors for his outstanding achievements as a professional artist. Using modern materials such as industrial polymers, plastics, silica, and metal, he creates abstract collages that often explore ancient symbols and mythology to find new meaning and spiritual significance.

In 1986, Hinton was one of four artists selected from 125 candidates to receive a State of Michigan Commission on Art in Public Places award. He spent three years creating a 36-by-11-foot mural which is now installed in the state capitol. Another large, freestanding mural consisting of 12 interlocking metal panels depicting Michigan's rural and industrial contributions to the United States stands in the State of Michigan Museum Library and Archives Building.

As a teacher, Hinton has inspired not only college students but also prison inmates, whose lives he has enriched with fine art classes taught at the federal correctional institution in Milan, Michigan.

His efforts on behalf of his community have included service for Concerned Citizens for the Arts in Detroit, as well as the Detroit Institute of Arts. Hinton currently serves on the Michigan Council for the Arts, which encourages minority participation on the panel and in projects. Committed to helping minority artists develop their talents, Hinton works tirelessly to offer them encouragement as well as practical assistance in finding financial aid to pursue their dreams and education.

Hinton is equally generous in support of his alma mater. A number of his paintings and three-dimensional metal collages are on display at the UI Museum of Art and the Iowa Memorial Union. Recently, he donated ten oil paintings to the University of Iowa Black Alumni Association. Proceeds from the sale of these paintings will be placed in the association's scholarship fund to help minority students continue their education at Iowa. Such generosity in sharing his expertise with others, as well as his distinguished professional accomplishments, make Alfred Hinton an outstanding graduate who brings credit to the University of Iowa.