Submitted photo Al Bright, Youngstown artist and professor emeritus at Youngstown State University, died Monday at age 79.

YOUNGSTOWN — Al Bright was an artist with the soul of a musician.

“He used to listen to jazz all the time in the studio,” said James Shuttic, director of the Fine Arts Council of Trumbull County and a former student of Bright’s at Youngstown State University. “He was jazz, just chill and smooth and encouraging people to get into the flow of creating. He had that smile, that laugh. Just an all-around great person.”

Bright, one of the best-known artists to come out of the Mahoning Valley and an educator who influenced generations of other artists, died Monday at 79.

In 1965, the Youngstown native became the first African-American full-service faculty member at YSU, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in art education the year before (he earned a master’s degree in painting from Kent State University in 1965). Bright also was the founding director of YSU’s black studies program and was a three-time recipient of YSU’s Distinguished Professorship Award during his 40-year teaching career.

In a statement released Tuesday, YSU President Jim Tressel said, “We are all saddened here at YSU to hear of the passing of Al Bright. Professor Bright’s legacy at YSU is large, as both a graduate, as the university’s first African America full-service faculty member, as the founder of the Black Studies / Africana Studies program and, of course, his artwork … He was a tireless advocate for YSU, for our students and for the entire Mahoning Valley region.”

Shuttic credited Bright for inspiring his own efforts in creating installations and doing collaborative and performance work.

“He was one of the most encouraging teachers I had at YSU,” Shuttic said. “One of the things that always stood out, he encouraged people to go off the traditional path and explore new things. He went to bat for me several times against faculty at YSU. If he thought you were wronged by someone, he would jump up and be there for you. There’s not a lot of people like that.”

As an artist, Bright’s work can be found in many public and private collections and he had more than 100 solo exhibitions, including shows at Butler Institute of American Art, Stanford University, Amherst University, Kent State University and the Canton Art Institute.

Bright was renowned for his live painting performances, where he would create abstract paintings, often accompanied by live jazz. In 1980 he received an Ohio Arts Council individual artist fellowship to produce a painting performance at Youngstown Playhouse with Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, which featured a 19-year-old Wynton Marsalis on trumpet.

Trumbull Art Gallery sponsored Bright’s first painting performance in 1976 at Kent State University at Trumbull in Champion.

One of Bright’s large abstract pieces from 1983 hangs in a conference room of the Tribune Chronicle.

William Mullane, an artist, educator and gallery director at Trumbull Art Gallery in Warren, said, “Al Bright was a major force in the region’s arts community for decades. His work as an educator influenced hundreds of students. He was at the forefront of multi-disciplinary artwork that combined painting, jazz and performance. Al was committed to his art and looking for ways to use his art to further the larger arts community.”

Bright received the Martin Luther King Jr. Diversity Award for leadership and service to the Youngstown community in 2011. Other honors include listings in Who’s Who in American Art and Who’s Who in Black America.

Funeral information was not available Tuesday.

agray@tribtoday.com