Thomas Vincent Johnston

Thomas Vincent Johnston was an artist and art educator. Born in Dannevirke, New Zealand, in 1923 he attended Waipukurau Primary School and Waipukurau District High School before enlisting in the Royal NZ Air Force and serving in WWII.

Following the war, he enrolled at Victoria University, Wellington, graduating with a Diploma of Teaching from the Wellington Teachers’ College in 1948. That same year he moved abroad–to Glasgow where he had gained a scholarship to study at the Glasgow School of Art. He graduated in 1952 with a Diploma of Art, and married Helene Strom the same year (a fellow art student from Norway). The pair relocated to New Zealand in 1953.

From 1956-1966 Johnston worked as Head of the Art Department, Palmerston North Teachers’ College. In 1967 he left this position having won a Professorship at California Polytechnic State University. While there he taught at the Department of Architecture before becoming Head of the Art Department in 1976, and Associate Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities in 1981. During this time he maintained an art practice, holding exhibitions and completing sculptures in public sites and schools in New Zealand and California.

He retired in 1985, returning to New Zealand with his family and settling in New Plymouth. The University appointed him Professor Emeritus in 1986.