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Robert Porter Hooton died June 28, 2006 at Manzano del sol Good Samaritan home, where he briefly resided after a bout with pneumonia. He spent most of his last year at his home, in his garden among family and friends. He was one month short of his 89th birthday; he is survived by two sons, Tim and Chris, and two grandsons, Zack and Keenan. Bob was born in Washington D.C. in 1917 to Phillip and Agnes Mae Hooton. He was raised in Bloomington, IL where his father was a successful architect. He followed his father into the study of architecture receiving a B.A. in architectural design from the University of Illinois in 1940 thought art was always his passion. He worked on the Architectural Design staff for the City of Washington D.C. but his career was interrupted by the outbreak of WWII. He joined the Navy, and served in the Seabees in the Pacific theater, including Iwo Jima. After the war he lived and painted in Guatemala, his works from this period have been exhibited in various galleries and museums, including the NM Museum of Ethnology, The Illinois State Museum, and the Plaza Gallery in Santa Fe. In 1950 he met and married Peg Nelson and the two came west to NM. Where the attended graduate school at UNM opened Workshop Originals in the Patio Market in Old Town, where they sold their own fine handmade jewelry and lived in the back of the store. The store later moved to San Felipe St. and evolved into a Gallery for other local artists as well as a Mecca for collectors of folk arts from around the world. Bob made many lasting contributions to the New Mexico arts communities, playing a key role in the establishment of the Albuquerque Museum and the founding of the New Mexico Arts and Crafts Fair. He was instrumental in the early days of the historic preservation movement, helping to establish historic zoning in Old Town. He also drew on his architectural background, working as a landscape designer. His own garden was featured on several occasions in Sunset Magazine. When Workshop Originals closed business in 1976, Bob took up painting again full time. His work evolved over the years from colored pencil to painting in acrylic to handmade paper to increasingly sculptural collage work. He received the Bravo Award in 1998 for Excellence In Visual Arts and in 2002 the Magnifico Honors Award for Lifetime Achievement, along with his wife Peg. His drawings and collages produced during the 1945 attack on Iwo Jima can be hang in the permanent collection of NM State University. It is not only in the art community that Bob will be missed, though. He will be fondly remembered for a long time to come by those in his family, his neighbors, and friends. There will be a gathering to celebrate his life on Sunday, July 23, 2006. Sunrise Funeral Options 7601 Wyoming Blvd. NE Albuquerque, NM 87109 (505) 821-0010
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