Before he passed away unexpectedly in 2008, the beloved professor and artist created a series of colorful paintings that captured the spirit and vitality of the city.
By Jack Houvouras
HQ 130 | SUMMER 2025
Stan Sporny (1946-2008) was an accomplished professional artist and an inspiring Marshall University professor, passionately dedicated to helping his students achieve success. He aimed to revolutionize oil painting with his brand of nontoxic solvents and mediums that became known as “The Sporny Solution.”
Born in Philadelphia, Sporny could remember wanting to be an artist by age 11. He attended the Philadelphia College of Art from 1964 to 1968 and the University of Pennsylvania from 1969 to 1972, where he studied under noted artists such as Neil Welliver, Red Grooms, Alex Katz, Alice Neel and Elaine de Kooning. During the summer of 1972, he was sponsored by Katz to attend the prestigious Skowhegan School in Maine. That same year he received an Albright Scholarship to study in Sri Lanka, where he resided for nine years.
Sporny taught at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge from 1987 to 1988 before coming to Marshall University where he became a beloved educator for the next 30 years.
“Stan Sporny was always exploring and discovering, teaching and challenging,” said John Farley, one of Sporny’s former students and Senior curator at the Huntington Museum of Art. “Classroom discussions ranged from color saturation to Sri Lankan politics, formalism to Foghorn Leghorn. While his students quietly painted, he played the blues on his guitar and shared stories of New Orleans.”
In 2002 he was commissioned by Dr. Joseph B. Touma to produce a series of paintings of the Huntington region. Over the course of two years, he completed 10 works that captured the color and vitality of the city. After Sporny passed away unexpectedly in 2008 at the age of 61, Touma and his wife, Dr. Omayma Touma, donated the paintings to the Huntington Museum of Art.
Sporny’s artistic style has been described as an embellishment of reality — a mix between the real and surreal. His paintings were often colorful and vibrant — and could be moody, depending on the subject. Every brushstroke was intentional, and he taught his students to do the same.
Sporny exhibited widely throughout his career, including solo shows in Sri Lanka; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; and Atlanta. His work can be found in public collections such as the National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.; the Utah Museum of Fine Art, Salt Lake City, Utah; the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, Louisiana; and the Huntington Museum of Art.
In addition to his art, Sporny enjoyed hunting and long walks in the outdoors. He was found in the woods and appeared to be quite healthy before his death. He left behind a wife and infant son.
