Vernon Pratt, a gifted professor and renowned artist whose works earned statewide acclaim, died Sunday at the Treyburn Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. He was 59.
"He really touched the community here, with his heart and his artwork," said his wife, Deborah Pratt.
Pratt sustained serious head and chest injuries Dec. 21 while riding his bicycle along a narrow stretch of road near Lynchburg, Va., where he had gone to paint. He has been in a vegetative state since that accident and died from complications stemming from the crash.
"He's been in purgatory. But it was necessary, because I think it gave us time to process and let go," Deborah Pratt said. "He was kind, in a way. I think if he had been taken that same night, it would have been much crueler."
Pratt, an associate art professor best known for creating the massive, publicly funded Education Wall across from the Legislative Office Building in Raleigh, taught at Duke since 1964. The wall blends words from teachers, local writers and John Coltrane as a statement about the complexity and value of learning. "In his recent works, really tried to raise the bar for group consciousness in public art," said Richard Powell, chair of the art and art history department.
His work is on display at other sites across the state-including six paintings at Brightleaf 905 restaurant and a sculpture and several paintings at Tyndall galleries in Brightleaf Square. An exhibition of Pratt's work and private collection is on display in Raleigh's Lee Hansley Gallery.
Deborah Pratt said these works will stand as a lasting tribute to her husband, particularly the sculpture on the Durham Arts Council's lawn. "It's a space that the certainly unites everyone, all people, all races," she said of the display made of granite cubes. "It's a space that's open to anyone. Just like him."
Pratt was on sabbatical last fall and had gone to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts to paint. He was bicycling when he was apparently involved in an accident. Although he was wearing a helmet, he suffered severe brain damage and several other serious injuries.
A Durham resident, Pratt graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. He enrolled at Duke in 1958 but finished his undergraduate degree at the San Francisco Art Institute-where he earned his master's degree.
A memorial service will be held next Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. outside the Durham Arts Council building on Morris Street. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to the Emerging Artists Program of the Durham Arts Council.
Pratt is survived by his wife and six children. As Deborah Pratt said, "He made many beautiful works, but the most important works are his children and his grandchildren."
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