Hobart and William Smith Colleges

January 23, 2026

Dear Members of the HWS Community,

I write with the sad news that Associate Professor Emeritus of Art and Architecture Mark Jones ’72, P’14 passed away earlier this week.

Mark joined the Hobart and William Smith faculty in 1985 and taught until his retirement in 2015, sharing his deep passion for painting and photography with generations of students. A devoted teacher and mentor, he was a gifted and thoughtful artist, respected for his intellectual rigor, careful attention to process and genuine curiosity about the world and those around him. His influence endures through both his work and the many lives he shaped.

Mark spent formative years as an artist in Amsterdam and New York City. He studied at the Rijksmuseum School in Amsterdam, Netherlands and at the Art Students League in New York before graduating from HWS in 1972. He later earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Brooklyn College, where he studied with Philip Pearlstein. 

Over a career spanning more than four decades, Mark’s work was widely exhibited in museums and commercial galleries throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. On campus, he is remembered especially for his Cows exhibition, a widely attended and much-discussed installation held at HWS in 2004 that left a lasting impression on the community. These paintings are animated with Mark’s characteristic whimsy and a sophisticated treatment of light. We are fortunate that some of his works are part of the permanent Collections of Hobart and William Smith and are often on display across campus. 

A favorite painting in our home is Blue Cow, which Mary and I purchased in 2015. I will now look at it with renewed gratitude — for Mark himself and for his many contributions to his alma mater and to generations of students.

During his time as a faculty member at HWS, Mark served a term as assistant dean for program development, was a leader in HWS’ Environmental Studies Summer Youth Institute, and directed off-campus programs in both Vietnam and Los Angeles. In his courses, students engaged deeply with art as history and social witness – from installing Disappear, a project addressing the Cambodian genocide, to creating an authentic replica of an ancient Egyptian mural in the basement of Houghton House using traditional materials and techniques.

Mark gave the Hobart Charter Day address in 2002 and remained deeply engaged with the Colleges throughout his life, frequently attending Reunion and serving as a member of the Hobart College Alumni Council.

In the catalogue for Mark’s 2015 retrospective exhibition, poet, critic and Professor Emeritus of English Jim Crenner reflected on his work:

“A confounding blend of masterful technique, transformative voodoo, and unqualified love for the way things look—that’s what I find in the extraordinary paintings of Mark Jones…. The pleasures to be found in looking at the art of Mark Jones are many and diverse… touching ideas of light, beauty, identity, and even ‘reality’ itself…. The artist in Mark, like the perceiving eye in Wallace Stevens’ The Snowman, beholds ‘Nothing that is not there and the Nothing that is’—not to mention the Everything that is.”

Our thoughts are with Mark’s wife, Lan Anh, and his stepson, Nguyen Tran ’14. We will share information about services when it becomes available.

Sincerely,

Mark D. Gearan
President