Since its foundation over a century ago, The University of Montana has been the flagship institution for the instruction of the visual arts in the state. Art has been a part of its curriculum since 1895 with the first drawing course offered in 1896. Painting easels and plaster casts of classical sculptures filled the beloved University Hall when it opened its doors in 1898. From 1902 until1937, Art studios occupied the gabled third floor of architect A.J. Gibson’s “Main Hall.”

Eloise B. Knowles, the first graduate of The University of Montana, was also its first art professor and chair of Art. She is largely responsible for the establishment of a progressive curriculum that balanced instruction in design and art history. Courses described in the earliest catalogs underscore the modern and comprehensive nature of the curriculum: free-hand drawing, applied design, oil painting, watercolor, history of modern sculpture, history of architecture, artistic anatomy, metalworking, photography, and cartooning, to name a few. Subsequently, the school has led the state in designing and offering an array of undergraduate and graduate degrees.

The university established the Department of Fine Arts in 1908 and offered a major in art the following year. The department grew steadily in numbers and prestige until after World War II when need for space led to a move into the Old Student Union Building. Built in 1935, at the height of the Great Depression, the art deco Student Union was the public face of the university for many years; it has been known as the Fine Arts Building since 1953 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Steady growth in the last half century has spread the school across the main campus: art education, art history and criticism, and the 2-dimensional arts (drawing, painting, photography, and printmaking) are taught in the Fine Arts Building; 3-dimensional art (ceramics and sculpture) are taught in the Art Annex; the Gallery of Visual Arts is located in the Social Science Building; and additional graduate studios are located in the basement of the old Schreiber Gymnasium.

In the second half of the 20th century, the school has distinguished itself through its rigorous curriculum and a dedicated faculty of professional artist educators and art historians and critics. Celebrated past chairs include Aden Arnold, James Dew, Walter Hook, and most recently Tom Rippon. Its best known chair was the internationally-recognized artist Rudy Autio. Artist-educators Lela Autio, Tu Baixong, Maxine Blackmer, Marilyn Bruya, Don Bunse, David James, Ken Little, James Todd, and Ted Waddell can be counted in the ranks of its past faculty.

Its current, no less distinguished, faculty honors that legacy through its commitment to intellectual inquiry, creative research and service, and the continued education of UM’s future artists and teachers. In 2009, the Department of Art was renamed the School of Art.

History and Heritage: The University of Montana’s School of Art
By H. Rafael Chacón, Ph.D.