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Dallas Art Institute

April 25, 2024

The Dallas Art Institute (1926-1946) was the first art school to offer instruction in a variety of fields in the southern United States. It was founded in 1926 by artists Olin H. Travis and Kathryne Hail Travis and operated until it was closed by the Dallas Museum of Art trustees in 1946.

Dallas Art Institute
TypeArts university
Active1926 (1926)–1946 (1946)
FoundersOlin H. Travis, Kathryne Hail Travis
DirectorOlin H. Travis 1926-1941
StudentsApprox. 200
Location
Dallas
,
Texas

History edit

The Dallas Art Institute was founded in 1926 in downtown Dallas, Texas. The founders, artists Olin Travis and his wife Kathryne Hail Travis, had just returned to Dallas (Olin's hometown) after receiving arts educations at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Inspired by what they learned there, they were eager to encourage the local art scene by founding the first institution to offer a variety of arts courses in the south.[1] Olin H. Travis served as director of the Art Institute from its founding in 1926 until 1941.[2]

In 1930, the Dallas Art Institute secured non-profit status in moving to the grounds of the Civic Federation of Dallas, and thus needed to organize a board of trustees to govern the school. According to the terms of their charter the number of trustees must never exceed 20 or drop below 10, with the inaugural board consisting of 13 people, including noted illustrator Margaret Scruggs-Carruth.[3] At this time, architect Thomas D. Broad was chosen to act as the school's first executive director to facilitate communications between the board and the Art Institute.[4]

Though it began on the second floor of a building on main street, the Dallas Art Institute would move several times before its closure in 1946. Their most influential location was at the Civic Federation of Dallas on Maple Avenue, a move the institute made in 1931. Their new building on the corner of Alice Street and Maple Avenue placed them between Southwest School of Fine Arts and the Klepper Sketch Club, right in the center of an arts colony downtown.[4] The local Dallas Artists' League began meeting weekly on Alice Street during the Great Depression, advertising "cheap meals for depression-stricken artists" when job opportunities for local artists became virtually nonexistent. In 1932, in coordination with other businesses, artists, and organizations nearby, the Art Institute participated in the first Alice Street Arts Carnival.[5] Continuing until the start of World War II, the Alice Street Art Carnivals provided more than 70 local artists (and DAI students) with a venue to sell their work to the public for never more than $5.[6]

Following a surge in enrollment in 1935, the school needed larger facilities and moved again, this time to a residence remodeled for the purpose on McKinley Avenue. The school made its third move in 1938, this time to the school wing of a brand new building on the campus of the Dallas Museum of Art.[7] They operated here for three years, until the museum's board of trustees voted to cancel the Art Institute's contract in 1941, in favor of founding their own art school.[1] The Dallas Art Institute was thus forced to move a fourth and final time, to a building several blocks from their first location on Main Street. It was during this move that Olin Travis left the school he had founded to work elsewhere, with the Dallas Art Institute closing for the final time five years later in 1946.[4]

 
Rebuilding Paris, mural, Jerry Bywaters, Paris, Texas, 1934.

Course offerings edit

At its inception in 1926, the Dallas Art Institute offered courses in painting (landscape, still life, and portraiture), life drawing, sculpture, art history, costume design, illustration, composition, fashion, and commercial art. The school was divided into several departments: commercial art led by Charles McCann, costume design led by Howard Shoup, general theory, history, and Saturday courses led by Leona McGill, etching and drawing led by Reveau Bassett, and painting led by Kathryne and Olin Travis.[3]

The school operated with 8 faculty members and a steady 200 students for several years until enrollment numbers dropped dramatically during the Great Depression. Attendance picked up again in 1931 when a fresh group of artists was hired to teach an additional selection of courses, including Allie Tennant, Alexandre Hogue, Thomas M. Stell Jr., and former student Jerry Bywaters. The expanded course selection included offerings like outdoor sketching, watercolor, stage design, and ceramics. They also began several art lecture series that were open to the greater Dallas community and increased the number of exhibition opportunities available to students in hopes of expanding the public's knowledge and appreciation of art. Their efforts were successful, as the school was able to expand in 1934 to offer both a three-year certification option and a four-year diploma program.[4]

Travis Ozark Summer Art School edit

 
Students painting at Travis Ozark Summer Art School, image from Southern Methodist University

In 1927, the Travises opened the Travis Ozark Summer Art School as an affiliate of DAI in Franklin County near Ozark, Arkansas (Kathryne's hometown) to offer summer classes in the mountains. For several summers, a handful of faculty and approximately 50 students spent the months of June and July living and working in the school's 15 crudely furnished cabins. Before it was rented by the Travises, the property had housed a long-abandoned sawmill, so they were able to secure the land for a very inexpensive rate.[8]

Holding summer school in the Ozarks was a prime choice for landscape painters, as the property was surrounded on all sides by miles of government forest preserve.[9] It was during a trip to the summer art school that Olin H. Travis was introduced to a young Everett Spruce. He was encouraged to share his sketchbook with the director, who responded by immediately offering him a scholarship to the Dallas Art Institute. Spruce is now regarded as one of the most influential artists to emerge from the Dallas Art Institute, best known for his landscape paintings of Texas and the Ozarks.[10]

The Summer Art School was open to both DAI students and residents of Arkansas and neighboring southern states, operating officially for 3 summers until 1930 when Kathryne left the DAI. Some records suggest that members of the faculty returned to hold classes informally as late as 1935, when a fire destroyed many of Olin Travis' paintings as well as the Travis' summer home in the Ozarks.[8]

Notable faculty edit

 
Tejas Warrior, Allie Tennant, 1936, Hall of State.

Notable students edit

 
The Letter, Amelia Urbach, oil on masonite, 1939, Dallas Museum of Art.
  • James Britton Gantt (1911-1984)[27]
  • Michael G. Owen (1915-1976)[28]
  • Barney Delabano (1926–1997)[29]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "DMA Insight - Dallas Art Institute - DMA Collection Online". collections.dma.org. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  2. ^ a b "Bio". olinhtravis. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  3. ^ a b c d Jefferson, Kathryn M. (1930-10-01). "The Dallas Art Institute". Southwest Review. 16 (1). Southern Methodist University: 139. JSTOR 43466100 – via JSTOR.
  4. ^ a b c d e "TSHA | Dallas Art Institute". www.tshaonline.org. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  5. ^ Cummins, Victoria H. (2015). "Prejudice and Pride: Women Artists and The Public Works of Art Project in East Texas, 1933-1934". East Texas Historical Journal. 53 (2). East Texas Historical Association: 89–90.
  6. ^ "Coming back home: Jerry Bywaters and the Dallas art scene". Booked Solid. 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  7. ^ "Fair Park-South Dallas". publications.dma.org. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  8. ^ a b "Olin Herman Travis (1888–1975)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  9. ^ "There is Romance in This". The Art Digest. 2 (11): 25. 1928-03-01.
  10. ^ "Art: Texas Realist". Time. 1957-08-12. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  11. ^ "Kathryne Hail Travis". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  12. ^ "Artists & Designers - Allie Tennant (1892-1971) - DMA Collection Online". collections.dma.org. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  13. ^ "TSHA | Stell, Thomas Matthew, Jr". www.tshaonline.org. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  14. ^ a b "Artists & Designers - Jerry Bywaters (1906-1989) - DMA Collection Online". collections.dma.org. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  15. ^ Seckler, Dorothy; Brooks, James (1976). "Interview: James Brooks Talks with Dorothy Seckler". Archives of American Art Journal. 16 (1): 12–20. doi:10.1086/aaa.16.1.1556873. ISSN 0003-9853. JSTOR 1556873. S2CID 192953872.
  16. ^ "The Letter - DMA Collection Online". www.dma.org. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  17. ^ "Artists & Designers - Charles Taylor Bowling (1891-1985) - DMA Collection Online". collections.dma.org. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  18. ^ "Artists & Designers - Florence Elliot White McClung (1894-1992) - DMA Collection Online". collections.dma.org. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  19. ^ "Artists & Designers - Merritt Mauzey (1898-1973) - DMA Collection Online". collections.dma.org. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  20. ^ "Cotton Boll - DMA Collection Online". www.dma.org. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  21. ^ "James Brooks". nationalacademy.emuseum.com. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  22. ^ "Artists & Designers - Everett Franklin Spruce (1908-2002) - DMA Collection Online". collections.dma.org. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  23. ^ HAG Texas Art - Dallas Auction Catalog #649. Ivy Press. 2006-10-01. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-59967-096-6.
  24. ^ "Artists & Designers - William Lewis Lester (1910-1991) - DMA Collection Online". collections.dma.org. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  25. ^ "William Lester". artcloud. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  26. ^ "Bertha Landers - Biography". www.askart.com. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  27. ^ "James Britton Gantt | Missouri Remembers". missouriartists.org. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  28. ^ "Artists & Designers - Michael G. Owen (1915-1976) - DMA Collection Online". collections.dma.org. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  29. ^ "Tyler Museum of Art - Exhibitions". www.mypawprint.com. Retrieved 2022-09-18.

April 25, 2024
dallas, institute, 1926, 1946, first, school, offer, instruction, variety, fields, southern, united, states, founded, 1926, artists, olin, travis, kathryne, hail, travis, operated, until, closed, dallas, museum, trustees, 1946, typearts, universityactive1926, . The Dallas Art Institute 1926 1946 was the first art school to offer instruction in a variety of fields in the southern United States It was founded in 1926 by artists Olin H Travis and Kathryne Hail Travis and operated until it was closed by the Dallas Museum of Art trustees in 1946 Dallas Art InstituteTypeArts universityActive1926 1926 1946 1946 FoundersOlin H Travis Kathryne Hail TravisDirectorOlin H Travis 1926 1941StudentsApprox 200LocationDallas TexasContents 1 History 2 Course offerings 3 Travis Ozark Summer Art School 4 Notable faculty 5 Notable students 6 ReferencesHistory editThe Dallas Art Institute was founded in 1926 in downtown Dallas Texas The founders artists Olin Travis and his wife Kathryne Hail Travis had just returned to Dallas Olin s hometown after receiving arts educations at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Inspired by what they learned there they were eager to encourage the local art scene by founding the first institution to offer a variety of arts courses in the south 1 Olin H Travis served as director of the Art Institute from its founding in 1926 until 1941 2 In 1930 the Dallas Art Institute secured non profit status in moving to the grounds of the Civic Federation of Dallas and thus needed to organize a board of trustees to govern the school According to the terms of their charter the number of trustees must never exceed 20 or drop below 10 with the inaugural board consisting of 13 people including noted illustrator Margaret Scruggs Carruth 3 At this time architect Thomas D Broad was chosen to act as the school s first executive director to facilitate communications between the board and the Art Institute 4 Though it began on the second floor of a building on main street the Dallas Art Institute would move several times before its closure in 1946 Their most influential location was at the Civic Federation of Dallas on Maple Avenue a move the institute made in 1931 Their new building on the corner of Alice Street and Maple Avenue placed them between Southwest School of Fine Arts and the Klepper Sketch Club right in the center of an arts colony downtown 4 The local Dallas Artists League began meeting weekly on Alice Street during the Great Depression advertising cheap meals for depression stricken artists when job opportunities for local artists became virtually nonexistent In 1932 in coordination with other businesses artists and organizations nearby the Art Institute participated in the first Alice Street Arts Carnival 5 Continuing until the start of World War II the Alice Street Art Carnivals provided more than 70 local artists and DAI students with a venue to sell their work to the public for never more than 5 6 Following a surge in enrollment in 1935 the school needed larger facilities and moved again this time to a residence remodeled for the purpose on McKinley Avenue The school made its third move in 1938 this time to the school wing of a brand new building on the campus of the Dallas Museum of Art 7 They operated here for three years until the museum s board of trustees voted to cancel the Art Institute s contract in 1941 in favor of founding their own art school 1 The Dallas Art Institute was thus forced to move a fourth and final time to a building several blocks from their first location on Main Street It was during this move that Olin Travis left the school he had founded to work elsewhere with the Dallas Art Institute closing for the final time five years later in 1946 4 nbsp Rebuilding Paris mural Jerry Bywaters Paris Texas 1934 Course offerings editAt its inception in 1926 the Dallas Art Institute offered courses in painting landscape still life and portraiture life drawing sculpture art history costume design illustration composition fashion and commercial art The school was divided into several departments commercial art led by Charles McCann costume design led by Howard Shoup general theory history and Saturday courses led by Leona McGill etching and drawing led by Reveau Bassett and painting led by Kathryne and Olin Travis 3 The school operated with 8 faculty members and a steady 200 students for several years until enrollment numbers dropped dramatically during the Great Depression Attendance picked up again in 1931 when a fresh group of artists was hired to teach an additional selection of courses including Allie Tennant Alexandre Hogue Thomas M Stell Jr and former student Jerry Bywaters The expanded course selection included offerings like outdoor sketching watercolor stage design and ceramics They also began several art lecture series that were open to the greater Dallas community and increased the number of exhibition opportunities available to students in hopes of expanding the public s knowledge and appreciation of art Their efforts were successful as the school was able to expand in 1934 to offer both a three year certification option and a four year diploma program 4 Travis Ozark Summer Art School edit nbsp Students painting at Travis Ozark Summer Art School image from Southern Methodist University In 1927 the Travises opened the Travis Ozark Summer Art School as an affiliate of DAI in Franklin County near Ozark Arkansas Kathryne s hometown to offer summer classes in the mountains For several summers a handful of faculty and approximately 50 students spent the months of June and July living and working in the school s 15 crudely furnished cabins Before it was rented by the Travises the property had housed a long abandoned sawmill so they were able to secure the land for a very inexpensive rate 8 Holding summer school in the Ozarks was a prime choice for landscape painters as the property was surrounded on all sides by miles of government forest preserve 9 It was during a trip to the summer art school that Olin H Travis was introduced to a young Everett Spruce He was encouraged to share his sketchbook with the director who responded by immediately offering him a scholarship to the Dallas Art Institute Spruce is now regarded as one of the most influential artists to emerge from the Dallas Art Institute best known for his landscape paintings of Texas and the Ozarks 10 The Summer Art School was open to both DAI students and residents of Arkansas and neighboring southern states operating officially for 3 summers until 1930 when Kathryne left the DAI Some records suggest that members of the faculty returned to hold classes informally as late as 1935 when a fire destroyed many of Olin Travis paintings as well as the Travis summer home in the Ozarks 8 Notable faculty edit nbsp Tejas Warrior Allie Tennant 1936 Hall of State Olin H Travis 1888 1975 2 Kathryne Hail Travis 1894 1972 11 Allie Tennant 1892 1971 12 Reveau Bassett 1897 1981 3 Alexandre Hogue 1898 1994 4 Thomas M Stell Jr 1898 1981 13 Howard Shoup 1903 1987 3 Jerry Bywaters 1906 1989 14 Martha Simkins 1866 1969 15 Notable students edit nbsp The Letter Amelia Urbach oil on masonite 1939 Dallas Museum of Art Amelia Urbach 1889 1969 16 Charles T Bowling 1891 1985 17 Florence McClung 1894 1992 18 Merritt Mauzey 1898 1973 19 Otis Dozier 1904 1987 20 Jerry Bywaters 1906 1989 14 James Brooks 1906 1992 21 Everett Spruce 1908 2002 22 Lloyd L Goff 1908 1982 23 William Lewis Lester 1910 1991 24 25 Bertha Landers 1911 1996 26 James Britton Gantt 1911 1984 27 Michael G Owen 1915 1976 28 Barney Delabano 1926 1997 29 References edit a b DMA Insight Dallas Art Institute DMA Collection Online collections dma org Retrieved 2022 09 18 a b Bio olinhtravis Retrieved 2022 09 18 a b c d Jefferson Kathryn M 1930 10 01 The Dallas Art Institute Southwest Review 16 1 Southern Methodist University 139 JSTOR 43466100 via JSTOR a b c d e TSHA Dallas Art Institute www tshaonline org Retrieved 2022 09 18 Cummins Victoria H 2015 Prejudice and Pride Women Artists and The Public Works of Art Project in East Texas 1933 1934 East Texas Historical Journal 53 2 East Texas Historical Association 89 90 Coming back home Jerry Bywaters and the Dallas art scene Booked Solid 2021 04 28 Retrieved 2022 09 18 Fair Park South Dallas publications dma org Retrieved 2022 09 18 a b Olin Herman Travis 1888 1975 Encyclopedia of Arkansas Retrieved 2022 09 17 There is Romance in This The Art Digest 2 11 25 1928 03 01 Art Texas Realist Time 1957 08 12 ISSN 0040 781X Retrieved 2022 09 18 Kathryne Hail Travis Encyclopedia of Arkansas Retrieved 2022 09 18 Artists amp Designers Allie Tennant 1892 1971 DMA Collection Online collections dma org Retrieved 2022 09 17 TSHA Stell Thomas Matthew Jr www tshaonline org Retrieved 2022 09 17 a b Artists amp Designers Jerry Bywaters 1906 1989 DMA Collection Online collections dma org Retrieved 2022 09 17 Seckler Dorothy Brooks James 1976 Interview James Brooks Talks with Dorothy Seckler Archives of American Art Journal 16 1 12 20 doi 10 1086 aaa 16 1 1556873 ISSN 0003 9853 JSTOR 1556873 S2CID 192953872 The Letter DMA Collection Online www dma org Retrieved 2022 09 17 Artists amp Designers Charles Taylor Bowling 1891 1985 DMA Collection Online collections dma org Retrieved 2022 09 17 Artists amp Designers Florence Elliot White McClung 1894 1992 DMA Collection Online collections dma org Retrieved 2022 09 17 Artists amp Designers Merritt Mauzey 1898 1973 DMA Collection Online collections dma org Retrieved 2022 09 17 Cotton Boll DMA Collection Online www dma org Retrieved 2022 09 17 James Brooks nationalacademy emuseum com Retrieved 2022 09 18 Artists amp Designers Everett Franklin Spruce 1908 2002 DMA Collection Online collections dma org Retrieved 2022 09 17 HAG Texas Art Dallas Auction Catalog 649 Ivy Press 2006 10 01 p 148 ISBN 978 1 59967 096 6 Artists amp Designers William Lewis Lester 1910 1991 DMA Collection Online collections dma org Retrieved 2022 09 17 William Lester artcloud Retrieved 2022 09 18 Bertha Landers Biography www askart com Retrieved 2022 09 18 James Britton Gantt Missouri Remembers missouriartists org Retrieved 2022 09 18 Artists amp Designers Michael G Owen 1915 1976 DMA Collection Online collections dma org Retrieved 2022 09 17 Tyler Museum of Art Exhibitions www mypawprint com Retrieved 2022 09 18 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dallas Art Institute amp oldid 1151898707, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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