Herron School of Art
Encyclopedia
Herron School of Art and Design, a school of Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, was ranked 45th overall by U.S. News and World Report among graduate schools of fine arts in 2008.
Located on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis is an urban campus of Indiana University and Purdue University in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Indiana University is the managing partner...
(IUPUI), Herron enrolls nearly 900 students in bachelor and master degree programs including fine arts, visual communication design, visual art, art education and art history. Herron is also home to the Herron Galleries, which exhibit contemporary works of art by regional and national artists, and the Basile Center for Art, Design and Public Life, which enriches educational and interdisciplinary activities through civic engagement and community partnerships.
Degrees offered
Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
- Art history
Bachelor of Art Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
- Ceramics
- Furniture design
- General fine arts
- Painting
- Photography
- Printmaking
- Sculpture
- Visual communication
Master of Art Education
Master of Art Therapy
Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
- Visual communication
- Visual art and public life
- Ceramics
- Furniture design
- Painting and drawing
- Photography and intermedia
- Printmaking
- Sculpture
Notable alumni
Andrew BlauveltNorman Bridwell
Norman Bridwell
Norman Bridwell is an American author and cartoonist, best-known for the Clifford the Big Red Dog series of children's books. Bridwell attended John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana and Cooper Union in New York City. He currently resides on Martha's Vineyard, MA, where he continues to...
Vija Celmins
Vija Celmins
Vija Celmins is an American artist.-Early life:Vija Celmins immigrated to the United States with her family from Latvia when she was ten years old. She and her family settled in Indiana...
William Forsyth
William Forsyth (artist)
William J. Forsyth was an American Impressionist painter who was part of the "Hoosier Group" of Indiana artists.Forsyth was the first student of the Indiana School of Art in Indianapolis and entered the Munich Academy along with T. C. Steele and J. Ottis Adams in 1882...
Ray H. French
Ray H. French
Ray H. French , artist and print maker, was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, USA. He attended the John Herron School of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana, and the University of Iowa...
Don Gummer
John Wesley Hardrick
John Wesley Hardrick
John Wesley Hardrick was an American artist. He painted landscapes, still lifes and portraits.-Early life and family origins:...
Bill Justice
Bill Justice
William Barnard "Bill" Justice was an animator and engineer for the Walt Disney Company.Justice joined Walt Disney Studios as an animator in 1937 and worked on such features as 1940's Fantasia, 1944's The Three Caballeros, 1951's Alice in Wonderland, and 1953's Peter Pan...
Bill Peet
Bill Peet
Bill Peet , was an American children's book illustrator and a story writer for Disney Studios...
Hale Woodruff
Hale Woodruff
Hale Aspacio Woodruff was an African American artist known for his murals, paintings, and prints. One example of his work, the three-panel Amistad Mutiny murals , can be found at Talladega College in Talladega County, Alabama...
Historical Timeline
The Art Association of Indianapolis, formerly the Indiana School of Art, was established in 1883. In 1895, John Herron left most of his fortune to the Association, which was headed by suffragette May Wright Sewell.
Paul Philippe Cret
Paul Philippe Cret was a French-American architect and industrial designer. For more than thirty years, he headed the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.- Biography :...
in 1929 and was the second facility in the nation designed specifically for art education. Herron's first core faculty included painters T.C. Steele, influential in Brown County, J. Ottis Adams
J. Ottis Adams
J. Ottis Adams was an American impressionist painter and member of the Hoosier Group of Indiana painters.He spent his youth in Franklin, Shelbyville, and Martinsville, Indiana and attended Wabash College for two years....
, William Forsyth, Richard Gruelle
Richard Gruelle
Richard Buckner Gruelle was an American Impressionist painter who was a member of the Hoosier Group of Indiana landscape painters....
, sculptor Rudolf Schwarz
Rudolf Schwarz
Rudolf Schwarz may refer to:* Rudolf Schwarz , German architect* Rudolf Schwarz , Austrian-born British conductor...
, and Otto Stark
Otto Stark
Otto Stark was an American Impressionist painter who was considered to be a member of the Hoosier Group of Indiana artists. Stark's work most clearly showed the influence of Impressionism, and he often featured children in his work....
.
In 1967, the Herron School of Art became a school of Indiana University. Two years later, it became part of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, located near downtown Indianapolis. In 1970, the Indianapolis Museum of Art
Indianapolis Museum of Art
The Indianapolis Museum of Art is an encyclopedic art museum located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The museum, which underwent a $74 million expansion in 2005, is located on a campus on the near northwest area outside downtown Indianapolis, northwest of Crown Hill Cemetery.The...
separated from the school, taking with it a majority of Herron's art collection.
In 1999, Herron launched a capital campaign to raise funds for new buildings, and in 2000, a ceramics facility was opened. In 2005, Eskenazi Hall, the current home of the school, was finished. This 169000 square feet (15,700.6 m²) facility tripled the amount of space available to Herron students and includes a 5500 square feet (511 m²) library, a 240-seat auditorium, 4200 square feet (390.2 m²) of gallery space, and several computer labs.
Notable Benefactors
Caroline Marmon Fesler: The daughter of local industrialist and automobile manufacturer Daniel Marmon (Ray HarrounRay Harroun
Ray Harroun was an American racecar driver, born in Spartansburg, Pennsylvania.-Early driving:As noted in the Columbia Car webpages, Harroun participated in the original setting of the record from Chicago to New York in 1903, and the re-taking of that record in 1904...
drove a Marmon car to victory in the first Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
race in 1911), she studied painting in Europe. Later, she became a well-known art collector, especially of 20th-century modernist works, many of which she later gave to the Herron Museum—including Grey Hills by her friend, Georgia O’Keeffe. Along with Sullivan, Fesler propelled the Herron Museum into the era of modern art.
Herman C. Krannert
Herman C. Krannert
Herman C. Krannert was a businessman and philanthropist in the Midwest. He was married to Ellnora Decker Krannert. He was a successful entrepreneur who made millions in the corrugated fiber products industry and made generous contributions to education and the arts in the Midwest...
: Founder and president of Inland Container Corporation, Krannert agreed to take charge of the Art Association in 1960, at a point when the organization was struggling to stay afloat. Krannert insisted the group reorganize its board and its way of doing business, including creating the position of board chairman—he became the first person to have that title and he held it for 12 years. His tenure culminated in the relocation of the Museum from the Herron campus at 16th and Pennsylvania streets to its current 38th St. and Michigan Road site, and the Art Association’s name change to the Indianapolis Museum of Art.