Artwork showcases a myriad of genres

By Karen Plant
J-School Web reporter

Gaze at the art piece in the lobby of Anderson Hall long enough, and you will see a paper boy shouting “Extra!” a picture of the UM clock tower and a ship emblazoned with “Opportunity” in the mishmash of obsolete letterpress materials that make up “A Journalist’s Puzzle.”

The sculpture was created by Lloyd G. Schermer, a former publisher of the Missoulian.  The 5-by-10-foot piece was formed by layering hundreds of pieces of antique wood and metal type that had been used as advertisements, headings and logos in newspaper printing before the industry’s change to photographic and electronic typesetting.

“You are dealing with two diminishing resources: antique type and me," Schermer says on his Web site.

Schermer’s sculpture is only one of many art pieces in the new journalism building.

In the entryway, next to the photograph of the building’s namesake, Donald W. Anderson, is a calligraphy print of the First Amendment by local artist Deb Parsons Menke. The print brings with it a sense of nostalgia, since it was moved from the former journalism building to Anderson Hall.

In 2000, Professor Keith Graham asked Menke to make the piece to dress up the old building. 

The large letters — as tall as an inch and a half — were not easy to write, Menke said. “At a scale like that, it is a little more difficult,” she said.

Old and new pieces alike can be found on the first floor.

New to the J-School are three 4-foot ceramic steel sculptures by Tim Strom. The sculptures, lining the first floor hallway in the John and Susan Talbot Gallery, are entitled “Line of Sight,” “Line of Duty” and “Line of Fire” and were created by shooting bullets through clay disks.

Yet the building’s artwork is not confined to the first floor.

Sally Hickman’s “Journey Remembered” acrylic painting, on loan from the Montana Museum of Art & Culture, graces an alcove in the second floor lobby. The J-School art siting committee chose Hickman’s piece with the help of the museum’s curator, Manuela Well-Off-Man. Pieces from the museum’s collection will dress up the interior of the building until permanent artwork is purchased.

“They knew it would take some time to get the new art work here so they wanted a temporary solution and approached our museum and asked if they could have some artwork on loan from our collection,” Well-Off-Man said.

Well-Off-Man is helping the J-School choose and buy permanent art work.

“Every time there is a new building here on campus or a major renovation, up to 1 percent of the entire budget will be set aside for purchasing art work,” she said.

The on-loan pieces, most of which are from the museum’s student-work collection, can be found on each floor of the building, from the basement to floor number four.

But not all of the art is on loan. Some of the pieces are permanent.

Case in point: a 1920s neon-pink News sign hangs outside the Montana Kaimin office on the second floor. The sign, from the Fairview News in Montana that closed in 1984, was donated by Kevin Boehler in memory of his father Virgil, publisher of The Sidney Herald and the Butte Weekly.

Along the second floor hallway hang several Montana Kaimin front pages, one from each decade starting with the 1900s. One features a headline that refers to the old journalism building, dated October 1936: “Dean Stone turns sod at opening ceremonies for building project." Another is dated March 1957: “Owner of Missing Pistol is needed.” An “Extra” edition of the Kennedy assassination, the Unabomber arrest and the aftermath of Sept. 11 are also featured.

Outside the J-School ’s second-floor main office sits an old, black Remington Standard typewriter atop a vintage roll-top desk. Inside the office hang two Monte Dolack prints in recognition of Dorothy M. Johnson (1905-1984), an author and former member of the J-School faculty. The Montana Press Association and Bert Smith, former editor of the Whitefish Pilot, donated the prints to the J-School.

On the third floor, a long line of photographs showcase Halls of Fame for both the Montana Broadcasters Association and the Montana Newspaper Association. Chet Huntley and A.B. Guthrie Jr. are among the 56 people featured.

The fourth floor hosts a collection of current senior and graduate students’ photography work.

Artwork is even featured on the basement floor, where two paintings on loan from the Montana Museum brighten the walls with color: Randy Vralsted’s “Eastern Montana Landscape” and an untitled piece by Greg Albeit. 

Purchasing permanent artwork to replace the museum’s loaned pieces will soon be under way. This month, the art siting committee — which includes professors Keith Graham, Denise Dowling and Carol Van Valkenburg — will meet with Well-Off-Man to choose permanent artwork.

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