27 saint francis magazine | fall 2023 Friends, colleagues and former students will forever remember Rick Cartwright’s high standards (“Good is not good enough”). They’ll think of his encouragement—and critiques— and feel motivated to do better. Even University of Saint Francis alumni who never took a class under him during his 42 years on campus benefited from his unrelenting push to do whatever was best for all students. “Rick was an incredible man—teacher, mentor, friend—and the art school would not be what it is without his leadership, his touch, his inspiration, his guidance, his tenacity and his willingness to fight for everything he believed his students needed,” said Assistant Professor of Graphic Design Alan Nauts (BA ’82, MA ’05), a former student who became a close friend of Cartwright and has taught at Saint Francis for more than two decades. Cartwright died on May 25 after a battle with cancer. He was a member of the Saint Francis faculty from 1975 until his retirement in 2017. He was the founding dean of the School of Creative Arts in 2004 and served as dean until his retirement. “Rick was my father away from home, keeping me out of trouble, and lovingly opening his home and family to me and my brother,” said Michael Palmer, Ph.D. (BA ’86), who called his time at Saint Francis the most influential of his life. “So many wonderful memories of laughter and happiness. Just a great human being. Saint Francis and hundreds of students are better because of Rick.” “He was always the guy I worked hardest for and tried to please the most,” said Amy Shreffler Sutter (BA ’96, MFA ’05). “He had such a great way of both pushing hard and praising to get the most out of his kids. I loved the art program at USF so much as an undergrad, and because of Rick’s influence I went back for my MFA. He was an amazing teacher.” There’s no such thing as a “short list” of Cartwright’s accomplishments. He forged the School of Creative Arts, then added programs in music technology, pre-art therapy, art history, museum studies with the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and dance in partnership with the Fort Wayne Ballet. He established a theater program and continued to build the Jesters performance group into a nationally recognized program featuring people with intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD). Under his guidance, USF was accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) in 2004. Cartwright led 756 students on 19 European trips as part of a global education, visiting all the major art museums of the Western world in 12 countries. “He was just so engaged and interested in wanting the University to succeed, and wanting me to succeed,” President Emerita Sr. M. Elise Kriss, OSF, said. “It almost felt like he was a mentor to me as president.” Cartwright worked with Sr. Elise on a variety of projects, including restoration of the Bass Mansion (now Brookside), launching of the Mimi and Ian Rolland Art and Visual Communication Center, development of the downtown site and visioning for the St. Francis Chapel. “That was the type of person he was—he dug into something and got it done,” Sr. Elise said. “Rick was an incredible man—teacher, mentor, friend—and the art school would not be what it is without his leadership, his touch, his inspiration, his guidance, his tenacity and his willingness to fight for everything he believed his students needed.” Assistant Professor of Graphic Design Alan Nauts (BA ’82, MA ’05) Nauts vividly remembers his undergraduate courses under Cartwright. The classes would meet every Thursday morning and, inevitably, Nauts and his peers would pull all-nighters trying to finish the five required artworks that would reach the critical eye of Cartwright that morning. “All of us who had Rick as a teacher remember how he taught and how he encouraged his students,” Nauts said. “He could be funny and quite the character—and he could also be pretty intimidating during a critique. His intent was always to make us better artists and designers.” Nauts said Cartwright was proud of taking so many students to Europe, allowing them to expand their worldview—in art, certainly, but in multiple other ways as well. Cartwright emphasized to his students to avoid stagnation. Pursue ideas. Pursue art. Pursue life. “Rick was a visionary,” Nauts said. “He didn’t finish something and say, ‘OK, we’re good.’ It was always, ‘What are we going to do next?’”
