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Obituary: A well-rounded life

by Michele D.  Maniscalco
Thursday Feb 23, 2017

Remembering Jeff Hull: artist, organizer, loving husband and father

Fellow artist and veteran of the vibrant, independent Thayer Street art scene of the 1970s and 1980s Scott Hadfield called it "the end of an era" when his dear friend, painter, art educator, artist advocate and family man Jeffrey Hull, Sr. passed away earlier this month at age 65.

Hull is survived by his wife of 34 years, painter Deborah Kamy Hull; his children, potter Lucille Hull Nilan, 32, of Tacoma, Wash.; software engineer Jeffrey, Jr., 29 of Brooklyn; and trumpeter/composer Matthew, 25 of Boston; Jeffrey, Jr.'s daughter, Kiyoko, 13 months, and other extended family members; and his cocker spaniel Billy, who in recent years was the conduit to new friendships and reconnection with old friends through their regular visits to Blackstone Square.

Indirectly, Hull leaves an indelible influence on countless students, colleagues and art lovers who were touched by his work and his actions. A prolific painter and sculptor whose abstracts were vivid with color and movement, Hull was the guiding light of the 1984 X Exhibit, an independently organized show by 10 Thayer Street artists that blossomed into an ongoing series, mounted in different venues over a 30 year span, despite the fact that the ten participating artists gradually migrated to other neighborhoods and cities over the years. "Every couple of years he would come up with a plot to have another iteration of X and he would organize it, find the venue and get everyone together I always participate because I loved the camaraderie," Hadfield said.

Hull was also a founding and active member of Artist Tenants of the South End, who strove to create affordable artist lofts in the South End in the face of incoming development and gentrification and was involved in the movement to organize adjunct professors. "Jeff was one of the most important advocates for artists in South End. He had an amazing amount of energy and spirit and he was willing to go out and engage the world on behalf of the artists of the South End," Hadfield said in an interview.

In recent years, Jeff and Deborah Hull were active in the Blackstone/Franklin Square Neighborhood Association and its college scholarship program, which awarded a scholarship to Matthew during his Bachelor's studies at Berklee College of Music. Hull was devoted to living his life and raising his family in the South End, despite the increasing pressure of rising housing prices.

"When we had to move from Albany Street in 1996, he refused to look anyplace but the South End," Deborah Hull said. While Hull beat the odds, living an active life for almost 30 years after a 1987 heart transplant, he lost his 10 year battle with colon cancer on Monday, February 6, passing away peacefully at home with his family.

Jeff Hull was born on October 12, 1951 in St. Louis, Mo. Coincidentally, both he and wife Deborah, a Chicago native, earned bachelor's degrees in fine art at Kansas City Art Institute, overlapping by a year or two, but did not meet until came to Boston to earn their Master's degrees at the Boston University of Fine Arts. Hull moved to Thayer Street in 1978, and married Deborah, also known professionally as D.K. Hull, in 1982.

Hadfield recalled that the stood out in the Thayer Street community as the only married couple. Their oldest child, Lucy, was born on Thayer Street. Hull paid the bills for his growing family as adjunct professor at the Art Institute of Boston, Emmanuel College, New England School of Art and Design and Northeastern University, also working as a house painter.

Hull undoubtedly left a mark on his students, as evidenced by the fond inscription one student wrote in a copy of the Vincent Van Gogh biography, "Lust for Life" that the student gave to Hull. The student wrote that he was glad he wound up in Hull's class "because I learned about drawing the truth. Not only that, I learned about drawing the truth so that people could touch it, smell it or believe it."

Both Deborah Hull and Hadfield described Hull as very involved in promoting other artists as lead organizer of X and of the authors' mural on the side of the Brattle Book Shop at 9 West Street, a collaboration featuring 20 artists. Deborah Hull said her husband also worked with galleries and shops to promote the work of artists by arranging and curating small drawing exhibits at venues such as A Street Framers and the Vessels Gallery at 71 Thayer Street.

Hadfield marveled at Hull's capacity to pursue his passion for art and devote himself to his family, noting that he and many other artists find it difficult to share themselves with another person while dedicating themselves to their art. "As time passed and he began raising a family we saw less of each other, but Jeff was always good about coming to people's openings and being part of that social milieu. I can remember when the kids started popping up at the openings and a little toddler would pop up in the crowd," Hadfield recalled.

A proud dad as well as a jazz fan was partial to Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Chet Baker, Hull liked to take in shows at Wally's Café at 427 Mass. Ave. when his son Matt was playing.

Deborah Hull attributed her husband's work-life balance to his bout with cardiomyopathy during his mid-30s, which necessitated the heart transplant. "Jeff was very involved in the kids' upbringing but he always found time to paint," Deborah Hull said. Hull's children shared their fondest remembrances and most important lessons from their father. "He taught us to work hard, be creative and work with our hands. Work with your hands as much as your head and with your heart," Jeff, Jr. said. Lucy said her father taught her to "work hard and be dedicated to what you love to do, and if there are obstacles, you can get past them." Matt chose to relate a fond and funny memory of how his dad would pry him out of bed on the occasional lazy morning. "If there was a particular day when I was sleeping late or I couldn't get up, my dad would stand outside my room with a coffee cup and take really loud sips. The sound of that stood out so much when there was no other sound. It was so annoying, it was worse than a phone alarm, but at the same time, there was a lot of humor in that."

Jeffrey Hull's life was a life well-lived. He was a prolific artist, a creator of exhibit opportunities for other artists, a teacher and an organizer. In the end, his finest creation was and is his remarkably lovely and talented family.

A tribute page, "Remembering Jeffrey Hull", can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.hull.9.