Mary Kirkwood (December 21, 1904 – June 17, 1995) was an American artist and a professor at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

from 1930 to 1970. Kirkwood earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot and Blackfoot rivers in western Montana and at the convergence of five ...

, and a

master of fine arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

degree from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, and completed graduate work at the Royal Art School in

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

and the College of Art Study Abroad in Paris. The same year, she began teaching at the University of Idaho as a professor of painting and history of painting, and remained with the university for 40 years, until retiring in 1970. Kirkwood is credited with introducing University of Idaho students to modernist techniques and concepts. Her work is held in the collection of the University of Idaho and Portland Art Museum.

Background

Mary Kirkwood was born in

Hillsboro, Oregon Hillsboro ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County, Oregon, Washington County. Situated in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city hosts many High tech, high-te ...

, on December 21, 1904, at the home of her grandparents. Her family lived in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

, Mexico, and

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

before settling in

, when she was four years old. Kirkwood remained in Missoula and graduated from the

in 1926. Four years later, in 1930, she earned her master of fine arts degree from the

, where she was a member of Pi Lambda Delta.

Influence

A number of her commissioned portraits hang at the University of Idaho. A 1980 painting titled ''Kate'' is in the collections at the

Portland Art Museum The Portland Art Museum (PAM) is an art museum in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The Portland Art Museum has 240,000 square feet (22,000 m2), with more than 112,000 square feet (10,400 m2) of gallery space. The museum’s permanent c ...

in Portland, Oregon. There is a scholarship in her name at the University of Idaho. The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon retains a 1930 painting in its archives of Adam and Eve, produced as part of Kirkwood's MFA degree.

Work

Agricultural Science Building Mural

"...nothing could deter Assistant Professor Mary Kirkwood of Art as she sat on a scaffold day after day, painting a mural in the building's lobby. The mural depicted the State's varied types of agriculture, from wheat farming on the rolling Palouse Hills to row-cropping on the level, irrigated Snake River Plain."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkwood, Mary 1904 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American women painters 20th-century American painters Painters from Oregon People from Hillsboro, Oregon University of Oregon alumni University of Montana alumni University of Idaho faculty 20th-century American women academics