Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Pfeiffer University has announced that James Milligan Haymaker, a professor of art at Pfeiffer from 1965 to 2005, died Aug. 10 at age 85.

Haymaker, a native of Lenoir, made his mark at Pfeiffer in numerous ways. He chaired the Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art program, and he served as its one art professor for all but eight years of his tenure at the school. He took students on tours of galleries and museums in New York City and Washington, DC.

He also ran Pfeiffer’s arts administration program, which was offered for 10 years, beginning in the 1997-1998 school year. The arts administration program, which offered a bachelor’s degree, prepared students to pursue museum directorships and other administrative positions in the fine arts.

Joshua Cross, an associate professor of art at Pfeiffer, replaced Haymaker as chair of its studio art program.

Haymaker “made sure that there was an art presence on our campus that, because of its location, can be somewhat disconnected from any art scene,” Cross said. “He made the art program accessible to anyone that wanted to be part of it.”

Haymaker was named an honorary alumnus of Pfeiffer College’s Class of 1995.

Haymaker was an accomplished painter. His paintings have been exhibited in the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, the Columbia Museum of Art in South Carolina, the Chapel Hill Art Gallery, and the Rowan Art Gallery as well as two Salisbury venues, Waterworks Visual Arts Center and Rail Walk Studios and Gallery. His works are also in numerous private collections.

Haymaker was active in numerous art associations, and he served as a judge for guilds and exhibits in Stanly and Rowan counties. He earned two degrees from the University of North Carolina: a Bachelor of Arts in art and a Master of Education in art education.

There will be no service. Memorials may be made to Pfeiffer’s studio art program.