A Landmark Filled With Memories

Ruth Swaner, local author and artist, shared some of her stories as an art education student at USU in the 1960s. She said it was a “wild and wonderful time,” though also marked by sad events like the assassination of President Kennedy. The Art Barn was a focal point for her college career. She remembered it being full of experiences and friends. “It was a fun place. . . I looked forward to it every day.” She had a lot of learning experiences there. “I found out along the way that I’d rather do art than teach art. . . I never did teach. I decided to get married, have a family, and just do art, and that’s what I’ve really enjoyed doing.”

Mrs. Swaner described the Art Barn in the 1960s. When she was a student she said everyone knew the Art Barn, and it was often a meeting place for students heading to the Hub (in the student center). She said, “The Art Barn is a landmark to me, and it stood out because it was a different shape than the rest of the buildings.” She also described what it was like inside. “There was lots of sunlight coming through all the windows, and the smell of the clay and sometimes the smell of the oils for oil painting.” Pottery was taught on the first floor of the barn, and on the second floor were sculpture and anatomy for artists, where they learned to draw skeletons and muscle systems. Life drawing was on the third floor. Other art classes were held on the third floor of Old Main. She remembered having to get to the second and third floor of the barn by climbing the fire escape stairs on the west side of the building.

One of her favorite professors was Larry Elsner, an award winning artist who taught pottery. She struggled to make anything on the pottery wheel, but she made a pot or vase on the pottery table that she still has to remind her of her days at the Art Barn.

Life drawing was a controversial class because it used naked models, which many of the students were not expecting. Mrs. Swaner described the shock of the class, “When the first person disrobed, you could hear a pin drop. . . I just about dropped my pencil.” Many of the students were very uncomfortable. Some LDS returned missionaries protested the class, which was required for their major, by going to the university administration and asking them to cancel it. They also complained to their church leaders, who quieted their concerns by stating that the human form was a beautiful creation and that learning to draw it could be a worthwhile part of their education. That controversy passed, but another led to the departure of the professor who bucked the clothed-model trend. Mrs. Swaner was surprised years later, however, when she was watching the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and he introduced the winner of a muscle man award, who turned out to be that very same former professor. Apparently he had made quite a career change.

Mrs. Swaner feels that the Art Barn should always be preserved on campus because of all the memories and experiences that took place there for herself and other students. She was afraid it might be torn down, and she said “This is even more exciting for me to know that they’re going to turn it into something really special . . . We need to preserve the past . . . Old buildings that are filled with memories should be preserved.” She believes that knowing the past can help us all be better people in the future.