Chouinard art institute

In Los Angeles from 1921 to 1972, the school was located at 741 South Grand Avenue by landscape painter and art educator, Nelbert Chouinard. the Institute was in operation under her direction until her death in 1961. She had been teaching at the Otis Art Institute and found the enrollment so heavy that she founded her own school to provide uncrowded classrooms. During its years of operation, the Institute had over 50,000 students and 400 teachers, many whom were well known such as Alexander Archipenko, Ed Ruscha, Rico Lebrun, Millard Sheets, Larry Bell, Robert Irwin, Emil Kosa Jr., Kenneth Price and Stanton MacDonald-Wright. In 1935, the state of California gave the school non-profit status, and by 1955, the school was granting Bachelor of Fine Arts Degrees. Walt Disney was one of the main supporters of the school. After Chouinard???s death in 1961, the Institute was merged with the Louisiana Conservator of Music and took the name of California Institute of Arts. It closed in 1972 due to infighting and the firing of most of the staff. A major factor in the closing was the lack of acceptance of modernist movements such as Conceptualism, Bay Area Figurative, etc. Sources: Edan Hughes, ???Artists in California, 1786-1940???; Peter Falk, ???Who Was Who in American Art???; James R. Pahl, http://www.oma-online.org/chouinard.html; http://www.calarts.edu/alumni/chouinard/