--- SAVE FONTBONNE ART UPDATE  3.27.2024---

 As you may have seen, Fontbonne University will close in 2025. The Fine Arts department will be teaching out our current students through the Spring of '25. We had hoped for a better outcome. We are grateful for your support. 

Concerning the donations made, they are no longer needed. As per Change.org's policy, refunds must be requested by the donor, who can do so by contacting Help@change.org. We strongly urge all donors to do this, as we will not access any donations.

In light of the University's closure, we have committed to closing our department with dignity. We have also decided to archive and document aspects of the Fontbonne Fine Arts education, including reference material, artifacts, and the like. This is to create a living reference for the students whose education has been affected by these events. As many of us are going into education, we believe in the importance of this preservation.  

Lastly, below is a summary of the Fine Arts department's history – this was shared at the Final Fine Arts Faculty Show:

With warm regards,

The last graduating Fontbonne Fine Arts class

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Fontbonne Fine Arts History:

·      1923, Fontbonne College Opens

·      1925

o   Fontbonne College is a 4-Year College with A.B. degrees (Liberal Arts)

o   Moves from previous campus (Minnesota Avenue) to Wydown

o   No formal Art Department, but a Fine Arts Building (now East) for art classes

·      1926

o   The Department of Art us established with the following courses

§  Fine Arts

·      Introductory Course

·      Freehand Drawing

·      Still Life Painting

·      Portrait and Figure Drawing

·      History of Art 

§  Commercial Design

·      Fundamentals

·      Composition and Freehand Perspective

·      Lettering and Historic Ornament Mechanical Perspective and Technique

§  Crafts

·      One class covering clay, leather, wood, and textiles

§  Associate of Arts degree offered

o   First Full-Time Art Faculty Members

§  Sister Annetta Flynn (Chicago Art Institute)

·      Ceramics and Design

§  Sister M. Theophila Haplin, A.B. (Chicago Art Institute, Fontbonne College)

·      Art and History of Art

·      1972

o   Bob Cassily becomes the first male student to graduate from Fontbonne College, receives a Bachelor of Fine Arts

·      1976

o   The first gallery show is Mary Sauer and Tom Schwartz 1977

·      1977

o   Master of Fine Arts program established

·      2000

o   Southwest Hall, built in 1960 and originally named Juniorate Hall, is renovated into the Fine Arts Building

o   Expanded Bronze Foundry, studios, and graduate studio spaces

o   Fine Arts and Theatre Departments are now together in one building

·      2002

o   Fontbonne College becomes Fontbonne University

·      2025

o   Fontbonne University graduates its last class of students & closes its doors.