Terri Thornton, artist and longtime curator of education at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, has died.
The 66-year-old passed away peacefully in her home on Dec. 17, according to a post from her family. Subsequent posts from the museum and her peers received an outpouring of support from artists in Fort Worth and beyond.
Hundreds of artists and community members alike shared messages praising the wife and mother as a beautiful soul and “badass” with a strong Texas accent and radiant smile.
When remembering Thornton, Andrea Karnes, chief curator at the Modern, immediately thinks of her curiosity and all of the lives she touched, from friends and colleagues to artists and students. Thornton, she continued, had a special talent for broaching difficult subjects in a gentle manner.
“I think of her natural way of being curious; she was a true lifelong learner, and a mentor, supporter, teacher, nurturer and champion of so many of us,” Karnes said. “It was such a privilege to be in her circle, which radiated outward into the community and beyond. We have lost a beautiful person, but her spirit will remain strong within everyone she touched.”
Thornton worked at the museum for 29 years and retired in November 2023.
Many people will associate Thornton with the popular Tuesday evening lecture series — which brought in numerous notable artists — and rightfully so, Christopher Blay said.
The local artist and director of public programs for the National Juneteenth Museum said Thornton’s character was even more impressive than her career profile.
“There’s just an equal amount, if not a greater amount, of her legacy that has to do with her profound generosity and authenticity,” Blay said. “She was just a generous human being, and it showed in everything she said, everything she did and everything she was a part of.”
Her thoughtfulness and generosity carried through into her artwork, said Jeff McMillan.
A London-based artist, McMillan first met Thornton in 2003 when they exhibited work in adjacent rooms at Sala Diaz in San Antonio; the friends saw each other infrequently but remained in touch.
“Terri was a unique artist. She worked in a slow and thoughtful way,” he wrote in a message to the Report. “She left a lot of empty space, room for the viewer to make up their own mind, which is a form of generosity.”
The spareness of her work was refreshing, he continued.
“In a world of fast changing images, reels and memes, Terri was making these quiet, almost empty drawings that demanded that you slow down, look closely and think for yourself,” McMillan said. “Her works have a special emotional quality that is really powerful.”
In announcing her retirement from the museum last year, Thornton shared what fueled her during her expansive career.
“It is the art that has sustained me throughout,” she said. “Rather than becoming callous to art’s contributions and its connection to our humanity, I believe in its capacity to challenge and connect us even more than when I was wide-eyed and just beginning this amazing journey.”
Marcheta Fornoff covers the arts for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.