Theo Lotz didn’t attend UCF, but as he points out, he was educated there. While his father, Steve Lotz, served as the university’s first art professor, young Theo chased snakes and turtles around campus. “That was pretty much what was out there,” he remembers.
“Someone told me once that I probably have the longest institutional history of anybody on the campus,” Theo says. He first stepped on campus as a 3-year-old.
As Theo played, his father distinguished himself as both head of the Art Department and a nurturer of eager students, as well as a creative problem solver. Lacking proper quarters and supplies, the students used the floor in the Science Building as a giant makeshift easel.
His father retired after a 34-year tenure, but Theo remains a UCF fixture as the director of Flying Horse Editions, located at the UCF Center for Emerging Media in downtown Orlando. Flying Horse Editions is a fine-art research facility and nonprofit publisher of limited-edition prints, artist books and art objects by internationally renowned artists. The facility also provides creative opportunities to students and faculty.
After obtaining bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art, Theo eventually became an adjunct art professor at UCF. In 2003, he served as curator of the UCF Art Gallery and in 2009 assumed the reins of Flying Horse Editions.
Steve describes his son’s facility as “marvelous” and “world class.” In terms of his original makeshift studio, he says, “There isn’t even any way to compare the two.” Theo calls the experience a family art affair, noting that his mother is a sculptor. “UCF,” he says, “is home.”
Article originally featured in Pegasus Magazine.