Santa Barbara Fine Art Center

Transcription

1 Produced through American Artist Monograph Project at The History of the Santa Barbara Fine Art Center by Leah Hardin IN MARCH OF 1967, Ray Strong and four of his fellow artists, James Armstrong, Douglass Parshall, John Gorham, and Joseph Knowles, decided to establish the Santa Barbara Fine Art Center, later known as the Santa Barbara Art Institute. Their goal was to create an institution for students to learn the visual arts from strong, prominent California artists in the atelier 1 learning style. This meant that students were able to choose their courses, what level they wanted to begin at, how many hours per week they attended class, and what instructors they wished to work with. The Center opened on April 3 of 1967 at its first location, 2020 Alameda Padre Serra on the Riviera, the location of the old Santa Barbara State College s Ebbets Hall2. It offered courses in landscape, still life, design, sculpture, head drawing and painting, oil and watercolor painting, and life drawing. The Fine Art Center was welcomed immediately into the community, and had a successful first year, with 8 students enrolling. It was originally supported by the Brooks Institute, also located at 2020 Alameda Padre Serra. Later on, the two institutions merged, and renamed themselves The Brooks Institute School of Fine Arts in April of With this merger, the combined school was able to incorporate Brooks Institute s photography into the curriculum and expand facilities. James Armstrong, the youngest of the founders, was born in Pasadena, CA in He graduated from Santa Barbara High School and attended the Art Center School in Los Angeles. He traveled extensively around Europe, finding artistic inspiration. When he returned to Santa Barbara, he met with Douglass Parshall, who filled him in on the current happenings in the local art scene. Soon after his return, Parshall asked Armstrong if he would be interested in sharing a model fee and in 1 atelier refers to the open workshop style of teaching where master artists instruct in an informal studio where students are free to follow in their own style, as opposed to the more directed, Socratic method where teachers lead students in step by step instruction. 2 "New Fine Art Center Finds Warm Welcome In Santa Barbara," Santa Barbara News Press, June 2,

2 working together in Parshall s studio. At first, it was Parshall, Armstrong, Knowles, and Gorham; later they were joined by Ray Strong and other artists. It was around this time that Armstrong got a phone call from Ray Strong. Strong was upset after a job interview at the UCSB Art Department had gone badly. Half jokingly, Armstrong suggested that they start their own school. Strong and the others immediately liked the idea, and they began making plans for their new school. Not only did they need to figure out expenses and curriculum, but they needed to find an affordable space that would meet their needs. After several months of looking, Ray Strong finally met Russell Furse, who had an office at the old location of the State College, 2020 Alameda Padre Serra. He offered them the extra space, next to the Brooks Institute on the Riviera. Even though extensive repairs needed to be done, the five founders had finally found their location. Armstrong taught watercolor and oil painting at the school. He was also the curator at the Gallery de Silva from and won several awards from the California Watercolor Society. Armstrong painted every day and taught until He passed away January, 201 at the age of 76. Douglass Parshall, the oldest of the five founders, was born in 1899 in New York City. Parshall ( ). As a child, he learned how to paint from his father, DeWitt At the mere age of ten, Douglass had his first art 3 show, exhibiting at the Milch Galleries. In 1917, his family moved to Santa Barbara, where Douglass and DeWitt would paint together and show works in their lavish backyard. Parshall studied at the Santa Barbara School of the Arts in the 1920s, which later inspired his goals and instructing style at the Santa Barbara Fine Art Center. human form, landscapes, and horses, working often with watercolors. was an instructor of painting, which included still life and head drawing. Parshall was primarily interested in the At the Art Institute, he He was part of the American Watercolor Society, the California Watercolor Society, the Los Angeles Art Association, and the Society of Western Artists. He was also one of the founders of the Santa Barbara Art Association, in addition to being elected to the National Academy of Design. Like Armstrong, Parshall traveled often, and was inspired in many of his artworks by the different countries landscapes. Douglass Parshall passed away at the age of 91 in Ray Strong taught landscape painting at the Center. He was born in 190 in Oregon and began painting en plein air as a teenager. Strong studied briefly at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco and finished his early training at the Art Students League in New York. He would later help found an Art Students League of San Francisco before moving to 3 "Famed artist Parshall dies at 91," Santa Barbara News Press, August, 29, Ibid Painting en plein air was popularized by the Impressionists who brought their tools and paints outside to work instead of doing sketches at the site and finishing the actual painting in a studio. 2

3 Santa Barbara in 1960 with his wife Elizabeth to paint dioramas for the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. He not only painted on canvas, but was also a talented muralist. In 198, Strong co founded the Oak Group, a group of artists who are invested in preserving the environment. Ray Strong painted until his death in 2006, at the age of 101. Joseph Knowles was born in Montana in 1907 and grew up in San Diego. At the age of twenty, he moved to Santa Barbara and began studying under Frank Morley Fletcher at the Santa Barbara School of the Arts. After his studies, he began teaching at the Cate School in Carpinteria, where he taught until In the mid 1930s, Knowles traveled to Italy, France, and 6 England, furthering his artistic education and craft. He also taught art at UCSB and Crane County School before helping found the Santa Barbara Fine Art Center. There, he taught design and landscape painting. He not only was skilled in oil and watercolor painting, but he also designed murals, worked with prints on 7 wood, and created stained glass windows. Knowles often was inspired by everyday life in nature, and painted landscapes. Joseph Knowles passed away at the age of 73 in John Gorham was the final co founder. Highly skilled in drawing the human form, he became the teacher of life drawing and anatomy at the Institute. Gorham was born in Los Angeles in 1910 and grew up on a ranch in Ojai. He studied under Chiura Obata at UC Berkeley and graduated with 8 a degree in art and naval science. Gorham and his wife, Marie Lacabanne, moved to Santa Barbara in the 1930s. Soon after, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy where he was commissioned as a Lieutenant, eventually moving up to the rank of captain after the war while he was still a member of the Naval Reserve. Aside from teaching at the Santa Barbara Art Institute, Gorham also served two terms as the president of the Santa Barbara Art Association. He died at the age of 7 in 198. After the five founders took over the location at 2020 Alameda Padre Serra, they quickly began their renovations. Because of the extensive amount of work that needed to be done, they did not have to pay rent for the first few months. They cleaned, painted, and put in new flooring, among other repairs. After they opened the school, quite a buzz arose in the community. By the 9 end of the first quarter, 2 students had enrolled, with 20 more applying for the second quarter. After a very successful first year, Ernest Brooks Sr. from the Brooks Institute approached Armstrong and Knowles about a possible merger of the two institutions. He had seen the rapid 6 (Gruendyke) 7 (California Watercolors) 8 Artist John Gorham dies; co founded Art Institute, McClatchy News Service, "New Fine Art Center Finds Warm Welcome In Santa Barbara," Santa Barbara News Press, June 2,

4 Produced through American Artist Monograph Project at growth over the preceding year and suggested having a school of photography together with a school of fine art, under the banner of Brooks Institute. After in depth conversations with the rest of the founders, they all agreed to the merger, and on April 1, 1968, the Brooks Institute School of Fine Arts was born. With this, they would have salaries, accreditation by the Western Association of School and Colleges, insurance, the possibility of more expansion, and more recognition in the art community. With these two forces coming together, the school was able to expand and hire more faculty. It now had the School of Photography, School of Fine Art, and the Undersea Research Division10. More classes were offered, including printmaking, ceramics, architectural arts, and diorama painting. New teachers included Forrest Hibbits and Ronald Robertson. After starting out with a faculty of just five, they grew to seventeen instructors and they began getting recognition for faculty and student shows put on in the Brooks Gallery on campus. Over the next three years, the Institute continued to grow and gain more students, but the Brooks Institute and Fine Art Center were no longer working well together. Combining certain parts of the curriculum was extremely difficult, as well as trying to maintain non profit status for the Fine Art Center. They often disagreed about teaching philosophies and even in such matters as how students should dress. Owing to these factors and others, the majority of the faculty decided to separate from the Brooks Institute in the Spring of After separating, they renamed the school for the third and final time as the Santa Barbara Art Institute, also known by the abbreviation SBAI. The separation from Brooks gave the Institute the freedom to teach as they wished, but they no longer had strong financial support. The Institute stayed at their location on the Riviera for another three years, during which time they continued to receive tax exempt status as a non profit school. Even though they were no longer with the Brooks Institute, the Art Institute s enrollment continued to grow. By August of 1972, there were twenty faculty members and seven major fields: painting and drawing, ceramics, graphic communications, design, glass, printmaking, and sculpture. The student body had grown to about 200 students the majority being male, but females were not very outnumbered. With the expansion of their student body and the courses being offered, the Art Institute started looking for somewhere new to relocate. The rent at their location on Alameda Padre Serra was getting to be too much for their newly reduced budget. In 197, the Art Institute moved to 1 State Street, the location of the old Ruth Schaffner Gallery, which was better suited to their shrinking budget. 10 The Brooks Institute Story, Westart, November 21, 1969.

5 Over the next two years, the Art Institute faced significant financial problems. They were suffering because of hard economic times and increased costs. When they opened in 1967, their operating costs were only $3,00, but by 197, the costs were up to $60,000. Thirty percent of those costs were for rent and overhead, and on average, they lost $7,000 a year. Student tuition was the main source of income, and it was not sufficient to overcome the failing finances. During this hardship, teachers salaries had to suffer. The staff, students, and members of the community came together to do everything they could to keep the school afloat. People donated money, staff members worked with very low pay, and students created events in order to raise funds. In September of 197, Joseph Knowles and James Armstrong resigned from the directorship of the school, and appointed Kenneth Jewesson, a faculty member since 1969, to the position of Institute Director. In an effort to help with the financial troubles, Jewesson hired two senior volunteers to organize the funds and recruitment of students. By 197, it was obvious to the staff that the Institute was not going to be able to come back from their financial crisis. Students were transferring to other schools, and the numbers coming out of the accounting office were bleak. Despite many efforts made by the school, the staff decided to close the school down. They finished transferring students to other schools, paid the bills they owed, and shut down the Art Institute in 197. The Santa Barbara Art Institute operated for 8 years, with 82 students graduating with BFA degrees. Even though the school had to close, the five founders were able to achieve their goal of teaching fine art to students in a hands on way. Many students went on to professional careers in the art world, and the five founders had great successes with their artistic endeavors throughout the rest of their lives.