Grady Murrell Harper Ph.D.

1932 - 2016

Grady Murrell Harper, PhD

"And with the stroke of a brush, you left us with the beauty of this place…"

These words define the legacy of Grady Murrell Harper, Ph.D., 83, of Natchitoches, La., who passed away after a long battle with ALS. Graveside services will be held at Alexandria Memorial Gardens, located on Hwy 167 in Woodworth, LA, at 4:00 pm on Monday, September 19, 2016 with Rev. Sarah Ann Berger officiating. The family will receive friends from 5:00 pm until 7:00 pm on Sunday, September 18, 2016, at Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home in Natchitoches, LA.

As a professor, artist, watercolorist, adventurer, and collector, he guided and helped shape the knowledge and talents of thousands. As a husband, father, and grandfather, he nurtured and supported his family unconditionally.

A native of Pineville, Harper was born October 6, 1932. He attended elementary and high schools throughout central Louisiana and was a 1951 graduate of Bolton High School in Alexandria, where he met, and shortly after graduation married, his high school sweetheart, Sidney Ortego. He actively served in, and received an Honorable Discharge from, the U.S. Navy Reserve in the early 1950s, and in 1955 he received a B.A. degree from Louisiana College in Pineville, where he studied art. While beginning a teaching career at Pineville Junior High and Alexandria Junior High schools from 1955 - 1959, Harper continued his own education, and in 1957 was awarded a M.Ed. degree with an emphasis in art education from Northwestern State University, in Natchitoches.

In 1959, he leapt at the challenge to teach college design and art education at his alma mater, Louisiana College, where he was assistant professor until 1969 and served as chairman of the Art Department from 1964 - 1969. During this time he attended University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi for additional graduate school credit, and in 1969, he was awarded a Ph.D. degree in education from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Dr. Harper then went on later that year to complete a second master's degree, this one in fine arts from Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Dr. Harper accepted the position of Professor at Northwestern State University, in Natchitoches, Louisiana, in 1969, where he was a tenured member of the Art Department faculty until his retirement in 1990. While at NSU he was chairman of the Art Department for three years, and then served as Director of Northwestern Abroad, the university's student international travel program. While at NSU, he served on the university's Graduate Research Council four years. He also was active on various university committees and advisory boards, was a contributor to the plan for the Louisiana School for Math, Science & the Arts, and was proud to take art to the community with adjunct workshops, exhibits, demonstrations, and international study abroad programs open to community residents as well as university students.

Dr. Harper authored many publishings, including "Catch That Flowing Mixture of Pigment," School Arts, (October 1962), which was used by its editor at a conference in Chicago for the National Committee on Art Education; "Don't Overlook the Talented Child," Arts and Activities, (1963); "Handicapped Enjoy Toe Painting," Recreation for the Handicapped (November 1966) which was reprinted in Exceptional Children; "The College Art Department's Responsibility to Special Education," Louisiana Schools, (March 1966); and "Develop Responsibility through Art," Arts and Activities, (May 1966). He also authored three books, Clean Creative Art Projects for Children; How to Collect Antique Paintings; and By Magic of the Pen and Brush—The Life of Jack Wilcock, a yet unpublished 374-page manuscript of the well-known British watercolorist and art scholar. During his career, Dr. Harper also exhibited in galleries and private collections nationwide and was accepted into numerous juried exhibits and art shows, often receiving awards or acknowledgments for work submitted. These include the Don Andrews Award from Southern Watercolor Society; the Bronze Medal Award presented by Prix du Centenaire Exhibit in Paris, France; a three-week exhibit of an original watercolor, "Doug's Place," at the Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Watercolors in Old Forge, New York; and had three lithographs chosen for exhibition in the Madison Gallery in New York.

Dr. Harper is listed in the 1975 edition of Outstanding Educator of America and the 1981 - 82 edition of the American Artists of Renown. He served on the Editorial Advisory Board for Louisiana Life magazine from 1981 - 1985, was past president of the Central Louisiana Art Association, and was an active and contributing member of the Writer's Guild of Acadiana in the 1990s. He was honored to fulfill a request by Louisiana Representative Jimmy Long in 1983 and donated an original watercolor "Grand Ecore Bluffs" to the Louisiana House of Representatives.

After his retirement, Dr. Harper continued painting local and regional scenes as well as commissioned art pieces as his style, subject matter, and medium matured and developed through the years. A specialist in watercolor and oil paintings, in recent years he adapted a unique technique of painting with coffee. While his oil paintings were a reflection of the essences of nature in lyrical abstract expressions, the watercolor paintings were more a direct representation of the visual element of the native southern environment.

Last year, Northwestern State University honored Dr. Harper and his careers, both as an educator and as an artist. In March 2015, he was inducted into Mrs. H.D. Dear Sr. and Alice Estelle Dear School of Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) Hall of Fame and honored during its annual Gala for his contributions to the arts community and to art education. Last October, the NSU Gallaspy Family College of Education and Human Development named him as one of the inductees in the 2015 Hall of Distinguished Educators. This prestigious honor was established in 2000 for the purpose of honoring graduates of NSU's teacher education programs who have made significant contributions to the field of education.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Harper has had hundreds of students who themselves have made significant contributions in fields of art, design, education, and related areas, and he was always eager to hear about their unique and varied careers. Dr. Harper's interests outside of art were also unique and varied and included anything from antique clocks to winemaking. He particularly enjoyed the process of writing, and before his illness had become an enthusiast for World War II aviation and pilot history. In researching the life of his older brother who was a specialized pilot killed in that war, he had begun even greater investigation and writing about that subject.

Dr. Grady Harper is survived by his wife of 64 years, Sidney Ortego Harper of Natchitoches; one daughter, Becky Harper Monrose and her husband, Blake, of Lafayette; three grandchildren, Brandon and Avery of Natchitoches, and Aaron of Baton Rouge; one brother-in-law, Dr. Robert Ortego, of Los Angeles, CA; two nieces, Debbie Wallace Morrison and her husband, Bill, of Pineville, and Annette Wallace Cherwa, and her husband Mike, of Virginia Beach, VA. Preceding him in death are his parents, Robert and Ethel Harper; a brother, Robert S. Harper; two sisters, Vera Harper Hargis and Lucille Harper Wallace, and his in-laws, Beatrice and Robert Ortego.

A special note of thanks is offered to Dr. Archie Breazeale, Alice and Bill Bryant, and Luanne Davis for their time and attention during his illness and their friendship during his life. A scholarship fund has been established in his name at Northwestern State University for the purpose of continuing Dr. Harper's legacy of educating deserving students in art and design. Donations may be made to the Northwestern State University Foundation for the Dr. Grady Harper Visual Arts Scholarship, NSU Foundation, Office, 535 University Parkway, Natchitoches, LA 71497.