The Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University has appointed two new faculty members for the 2025–26 academic year: Associate Professor of Art History Richard Hylton and Assistant Professor of Art Therapy Kathryn Snyder.
“The expansion of our faculty in art history and art therapy reflects Tyler’s deep commitment to fostering both intellectual rigor and the transformative potential of the arts,” said Susan E. Cahan, dean of the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. “By welcoming these two accomplished scholars and practitioners, we are empowering students to engage with the cultural forces that shape art, while also equipping them to harness creative practice as a force for healing and interpersonal growth.”
Since the early 1990s, Richard Hylton has been active in the U.K. visual arts sector, working as an artist and curator for organizations including Oldham Art Gallery, Autograph (Association of Black Photographers) and University for the Creative Arts. He has organized and facilitated numerous contemporary art exhibitions with notable artists including Barbara Walker, Ruth Maclennan, Anthony Key and Eugene Palmer.
Hylton holds a PhD from Goldsmiths, University of London, and served as the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences Diversity Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh from 2019 to 2021. Prior to joining Tyler’s Department of Art History, he was a lecturer in contemporary art at SOAS University of London.
His research focuses on Black British art, African American art in a global context, historical recovery, institutional critique and cultural memory. His most recent publication, Donald Rodney: Art, Race and the Body Politic (Bloomsbury, 2025) offers a long overdue study of the artist’s work in relation to aesthetics, politics, and Black consciousness. Hylton is also the author of The Nature of the Beast: Cultural Diversity and the Visual Arts Sector – A Study of Policies, Initiatives and Attitudes 1976-2006 (University of Bath, 2007). Hylton’s art criticism has appeared in journals and publications including Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art, Art Monthly, Burlington Magazine, Panorama, The International Review of African American Art, The Routledge Companion to African American Art History, Failure: Documents of Contemporary Art Series and Issues in Curating Contemporary Art and Performance.
"Richard's expertise brings a new and exciting focus on arts of the African diaspora to the Art History department, which has been transformed in the past six years by dynamic faculty whose research and teaching encompass global movements," said Professor and Chair of Art History Jane DeRose Evans.
Kathryn Snyder is an artist, researcher and board-certified clinical art therapist specializing in the intersections of art therapy, education and mental health care. Her work focuses on place-based therapy and the creation of communities of care within a relational aesthetic. She holds a PhD in creative arts therapies from Drexel University.
“Dr. Snyder’s interdisciplinary research and practice melds art therapy and therapeutic art education with an emphasis in community contexts, specifically, literacy in school settings and art therapy in museums,” said Lisa Kay, Professor and Chair of Art Education and Community Arts Practices.
Snyder is the founder of Parent to Child Therapy Associates, a private clinical practice providing creative arts therapies and speech and language therapy for adults, children, teens and families. Through her research and practice, she embeds art therapy into schools and museums, reducing barriers and expanding access to mental health care.
Snyder's work has been published in international journals including Journal of Participatory Research Methods, International Journal of Art Therapy, Museological Review and The Arts in Psychotherapy.
“Her work resonates with the Art Education and Community Arts Practices department’s focus and mission. Kathryn's research trajectory, extensive clinical knowledge, and rich teaching experiences will be an strong asset to the Art Therapy program at Temple,” said Kay.