“Gwynne Taylor was in charge of the renovation in 2004, and she gave me the challenge of making up a story based on an original, historic mouse hole they found in the front hall of the Single Sisters’ House. It’s still there, of course, and the Admissions Office does a great job decorating it for holidays. I did a lot of research about Salem’s history and researched historical artifacts to include in the illustrations,” Dr. Hutton said. He has since written and illustrated five Sister Maus books, which are sold alongside additional Sister Maus merchandise in The Mercantile shop on Salem’s campus.

I like all my projects! Each one has its own challenges, and each new project requires a distinct set of research problems. Research for the subjects AND the styles. I ask myself, who has done something like this before? What can I learn from them? Then I collect hundreds of photo references and make hundreds of sketches to get started. 

Originally from a small town in New York, Dr. Hutton said, “I always loved to paint and draw as a kid. My mother kept all my drawings…Making art is still my favorite thing to do, and I try to draw or paint every day!” After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art and art history from Princeton University, Dr. Hutton attended the Courtauld Institute (part of the University of London) and Harvard for his graduate studies. “I started to teach as a grad student assistant at Harvard, but didn’t REALLY learn how to do it until I came to Salem!” he reflected. He began teaching art history as an instructor at Salem College in 1990 and was promoted to assistant professor two years later, upon receiving his Ph.D.

Dr. Hutton has enjoyed a rewarding career at Salem over the past 36 years, and he finds great joy in teaching and helping students make the connection between art and real-world problem-solving. He explained, “I think that studying art history—works by some of the most creative people ever known, from all periods, and from all over the world—is a tremendous inspiration for our own creativity. People have been solving creative problems forever, and so can YOU, I tell them! And this doesn’t have to be just for the artists among us; maybe something you study in an art class gives you clues as to how to solve the problems in front of you in new ways, in whatever career you pursue. Think about how you could do your future job, whether it’s medical, financial, commercial, legal, whatever, in remarkable, inspired ways. That’s the magic of a liberal arts education, learning to see things from different angles, working with new creative combinations of those angles.”

As he is preparing for a new semester at Salem, Dr. Hutton said, “I love the chance to learn something new when we do a new class. My latest class is Medicine and Art, which is a fascinating topic.” Another interesting course he’s enjoyed teaching is on graphic novels, which inspired him to partner with a friend to produce a graphic novel about the Italian Renaissance painter Fra Filippo Lippi.

Dr. Hutton is excited to welcome a new group of students into his classroom this fall. “I love the history of Salem, I love the small classes, and getting to know everyone’s names by the first week or so. I love the things they say in class when we look at art together. I always learn something new myself in every class when a new group works with me on subjects I’ve been teaching, some of them, for thirty-plus years,” he said. “Many students only take one art class at Salem, but if I can open doors for them, help them figure out how to approach art and find some interest in it, I’ve done something important.”