Nelbert Chouinard

Nelbert Chouinard (1879-1969) was an artist from South Pasadena, California who founded the Chouinard Arts Institute (1921) in Los Angeles, California. The Institute had a great influence on the arts and art education in Los Angeles, educating the artists and animators who made an impact on art in the twentieth century.[1]

Nelbert Chouinard
Born
Nelbertina Murphy

(1879-02-09)February 9, 1879
Montevideo, Minnesota U.S.
DiedJuly 9, 1969(1969-07-09) (aged 90)
California
EducationPratt Institute in New York
Known forPainting landscape
Websitewww.chouinardfoundation.org

Education

Nelbert Murphy began her art education at Windom Institute in her hometown of Montevideo, Minnesota. She was a 1904 graduate in fine art, from the Pratt Institute in New York.[2]

Career

Teaching

After graduating from Pratt, she began her teaching career in the Orange, NJ public school system. She spent her summers at home in Minnesota working with the Handicraft Guild in Minneapolis where she taught leather craft art under the guidance of Earnest Batchelder. When her parents relocated from Minnesota to South Pasadena, California in 1909, Nelbert Murphy joined them and taught at Throop Polytechnic, now Caltech, with Ernest Batchelder.[1] She was subsequently recruited to teach at the Otis Art Institute.[1]

Founding the Chouinard Arts Institute

In 1921 Mrs. Chouinard founded the Chouinard Arts Institute. The school became known by its distinguished roster of alumni as one of the great art schools in the world. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, through the Great Depression and WWII, Mrs. Chouinard managed to keep the school going. Early on, Walt Disney recognized the school as a great resource for talent and hired the Institute to train his animation artists. By 1962, Mrs. Chouinard, in failing health, was unable to continue at the helm and the school was in financial straits. Walt Disney, Chouinard Art Institute board member, was asked by the other members of the board to take the on the directorship in order to continue the school. He agreed. Under Disney, the school was renamed California Institute for the Arts (CalArts).[3][4]

Personal life

Nelbert Murphy married Horace "Burt" Chouinard, widower and retired Spanish American War army chaplain, in 1916. The couple lived briefly in El Paso, Texas and later in Washington DC. When Horace Chouinard, died of cancer only two years later, Nelbert M. Chouinard moved back to South Pasadena, California where she lived for the rest of her life. She was known thereafter as "Mrs. Chouinard", never remarried and always wore her wedding ring. [2]

References
  1. "Pasadena Museum of History Announces Donation of Artwork, Memorabilia from Family of Artist/Educator Nelbert Chouinard". PASADENA NOW. LLC. 18 February 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  2. "Major Influence City Celebrates Nelbert Chouinard Day". SouthPasadenan.com. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  3. Fjeldsted, Steve (29 June 2018). "The Enduring Arts Legacy of South Pasadena's Nelbert Chouinard Shines Brightly in Library Collection". SouthPasadenan.com. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  4. Kron, Cat (19 January 2018). "The California Artists Who Made Conceptual Art Funny". Artsy. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
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