Faculty Exhibition 1959

              FOREWORD
Gilbert Murray has defined progress as "some gradual enriching and
ennobling of the content of life. " Substitute the work "art" for the word
" progress" and an equally essential definition of art is had. It is one in
which the ·Los Angeles County Art Institute believes and to which it sub-scrib
es, with enthusiasm. And it is one from which the function of the
artist in any society may be deduced, namely, to go beyond the elementary
absolute of cr eating order out of chaos and to strive toward that which
imbues life with dignity of purpose and nobility .
In its p rofessional program the Los Angeles County Art Institute fol-lows
the principle that the hand which manipulates is only as good as the
heart and head which direct. H ence its four-year curriculum, with the pre-requ
isite of two years on the college level, of r equired humanities studies
accompanying r equired stu<.lio disciplines. The selection of its faculty is
based on the conviction that, while the becoming of an artist depends in
the last resort upon the individual, the most competent and complet e pro-fessional
guidance is necessary in order to acquire the fundamentals.
H ence all the members are professionals, on the one hand practicing artists,
on the other, teachers from the college level.
In presenting the work of its studio faculty, the Los Angeles County
Art Institu te takes pride in the quality and variety of accomplishment.
Included are both studio work, which bears the stamp of personal search,
and commissioned work, which gives evidence of individual competence in
many directions.