Artists are no stranger to being known as eccentric. So when students happen to wander into the office of art and design professor Vincent DiMattio, they should not be surprised to find a giant anatomic rendering of a human head mounted behind him as he works on the daily newspaper based crossword.
A member of the University staff since 1968, DiMattio has been teaching undergraduates techniques in studio art such as drawing, basic design and painting, as well as an assortment of lecture courses. It is through these classes that DiMattio is able to share with the students the very devotion that inspired him to become an artist.
The passion all started at a very young age in Quincy, Massachusetts. DiMattio said, “When I was in the first grade wearing white short pants and standing at an easel drawing a large head of a horse, my father would bring me home paper from work because I just enjoyed drawing.” Eventually that very drawing of a horse head was featured in his town’s annual report, which then started him down the path of his artistic career.
As the years went by DiMattio continued to draw and followed the usual routine of an artist in training by taking the offered art classes in high school. However, it appeared that this is where his artistic endeavors would end.
“I was going to join the Marine Corps. I was playing baseball one day and the Marine band was there playing for the game. Eventually a Marine Sergeant approached me and said, ‘Why don’t you come into the Marines?’ and my brother was a Marine and I thought that it was exciting and just made sense,” said DiMattio.
Yet on the very week that he was supposed to go to the Marine recruiting site and get sworn into the organization, an unexpected encounter with an old friend from high school changed his plans. The friend invited DiMattio to join him on a trip to the university he was attending, the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (Massart), and the Marines were out of the picture. A compilation of previously completed works and one day of tedious auditioning later DiMattio was admitted to the university and transitioned onto the path of studio arts.
Upon completion of his degree at Massart, DiMattio then went on to obtain his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at Southern Illinois University and secured a teaching position in Wisconsin for a few years.
Since coming to the University 46 years ago, DiMattio served as the Chair of the Art and Design Department for 13 years, started up the gallery program, had a scholarship named in his honor, received a distinguished teaching honor within the past year, and secured and organized pieces for the University’s permanent art collection. On top of all of that, at the age of the 72, DiMattio had the gallery in the recently built Joan and Robert Rechnitz Hall named after him. DiMattio chuckled, “You know, you usually don’t get something named after you unless you’re super wealthy or you’re dead. I know I’m not wealthy and maybe I’m dead, I’m not sure.”
It’s his unique sense of humor and fast-paced quips that complement each class he instructs. It comes off as unexpected to students at first, especially to the freshmen, but is then later embraced as a familiar and ritualistic humor that is unique only to the professor himself.
Sophomore art student Katrina Wraga recalls this particular brand of banter, and admitted that she was a little intimidated initially. “As you get to know him though, you really just start to warm up,” Wraga said, “so far he has been my favorite professor, and even though I’ve only had two classes with him I feel as if he’s really impacted my life.”
Wraga explained how DiMattio has influenced her while at the University. “I wasn’t sure about being an art major at first but he really reassured me that it was the right path for me and was really encouraging. Any criticism he gave was only the kind that he meant in a good way and was for my betterment in the end,” said Wraga.
The impact is mutual according to DiMattio. “I would say that I walk out of the classroom every day and as a professor I am always on the lookout for those students who can teach me something,” he said. “It makes everything more enjoyable in the classroom. The moment that you start referring to this as a ‘job’ then it becomes a dirty word. The way I see it is I am lucky as hell to still be alive and be here with young people and to still be doing it after all of these years.”
While the accolades continue to emerge in honor of DiMattio and the classes are still being taught as they have been every year, it seems that there might be one last hoorah in line for the professor and his students.
For this upcoming spring break DiMattio will be leading an international student trip to Greece. While he has been making these types of trips with students since 1982, to places such as Paris, Barcelona, Prague, and Amsterdam, this might very well be his last trip of his teaching career. He said that he has enjoyed sharing these experiences with students over the years, but since his back surgery last year, traveling isn’t as easy as it used to be.
Although one facet of the many DiMattio has held might be coming to a close, this professor is not done leaving his impression upon the students and faculty at the University. While passing his office and studio students are sure to hear DiMattio’s teasing comments that have made students and alumni grow close to him and remain in contact even after classes have ceased. It is this type of character that has left an impression on the hearts and minds of artists and non-artists, allowing those who come in contact with him to be able to remember the man with the crossword puzzles and open office door.
