Professor Emeritus and champion of the arts Bob Winters’s legacy will live on in Athens. Remember him at the memorial service this Sunday.
Robert L. Winters was a force of nature.
Until his final day, he continually promoted the betterment of the arts in Athens. Winters, a Professor Emeritus in the College of Fine Arts, died Aug. 12. He was 77.
He is survived by his wife Connie and three sons Daniel, Michael and Jonathan. A memorial service will be held Sunday at ARTS/West, 132 W. State St.
Winters began his reputation as a champion of the arts in Athens when he started at Ohio University in 1962. In more than 50 years of service, he obtained several titles and taught a wide array of subjects. He was the director of the then School of Theater from 1978 to 1986 and the interim director of the School of Film in 1997 and 2001.
Even after he retired, Winters continued to teach classes and lead the Program to Aid Career Exploration performance photographers for more than 10 years.
“The only thing that stopped him (from being director) was his heart attack and surgery,” said Michael Lincoln, artistic director and head of the Division of Theater. “Even though he had enormous struggles with his health, he’d still show up.”
Rebecca Ciprus was a photographer with PACE for two and a half years. She said his genuine mentoring style and compassion influenced her plans for the future.
“He definitely inspired me to carry it forward, that inspiration and humility, and give it to other people who are in the same exact position I was in as an uncertain young artist,” said the 2014 alumna.
Winters sought to enhance the artistic experience of not just the university, but also of the entire community. He was the primary leader in the creation of the ARTS/ West facility. In 1973, he helped create the popular Appalachian Green Parks Project, a touring production that played to more than 200,000 people in several states for more than four years. Most recently, he helped create the Athens Area Citizens for the Arts, an association that promotes the value of the arts.
The year after he joined OU, Winters began his 30-year career with Ohio Valley Summer Theater (OVST) where he served as a designer, director of more than 30 productions and artistic director for the organization.
“He was larger than life,” said Carol Patterson, artistic director for OVST. “He really shaped what (OVST) would mean. … He established the dream and kept it alive for a very long time.”
Though Athens is known to have a strong arts community, Lincoln said it wouldn’t be like it is now without Winters' influence.
“Athens is full of artists but you need someone like Bob to bring them together and to get them together with business leaders, the dean so that all these people who are somehow connected to the arts can come together and work together to make it better,” Lincoln said.
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