The public is invited to a series of events marking the 1942 groundbreaking of a hall at the center of campus life.
TACOMA, Wash. – In January 1942, the United States was at war following the devastating bombing of Pearl Harbor, and no American college campus was untouched by what this would mean for its students and its community.
At the University of Puget Sound, in north Tacoma, a port city that served as a major shipbuilder for the U.S. Navy, the center of student life at that uneasy time was the brand-new Kittredge Hall.
Kittredge was the student union building, complete with sorority meeting rooms and a soda fountain. By late 1943, Kittredge was also the residence for army engineers in training, who, having barely settled in for classes, were commissioned in March 1944 to fight in the Bulge's Battle. It was a difficult time.
Over the next 15 years, helped by the GI Bill®, student numbers grew at the college, and Kittredge Hall buzzed with the student government's work, The Trail newspaper, the yearbook, and dining services. Then, from 1960, it all changed.
With a new, larger student union building, Kittredge Hall became home to the art department and Kittredge Gallery. For the next 56 years, the modest Tudor-Gothic brick building at the heart of campus served as a lively learning space for art students, as home to the department faculty, as a hall for community lectures, and as a critically praised showcase of works by Puget Sound students and national and international artists.
In the academic year ahead, the University of Puget Sound will celebrate those remarkable times and the 75th anniversary of Kittredge Hall's groundbreaking (January 1942). The year will include special exhibitions, art lectures, receptions for those historically close to Kittredge, and an art history colloquium.
“Kittredge Hall has been and remains a rich space of memory for Puget Sound students and the campus community,” said Linda Williams, professor of art history and one of the anniversary organizers. “This celebratory year will include events that focus on the first 18 years of the building as a home for the student union and its 56 years as the art department, with our wonderful Kittredge art gallery.”
Faculty and staff members in the Department of Art and Art History invite the public to the yearlong series of events to celebrate Kittredge’s 75th anniversary. Already some 1,200 alumni of art and art history have been invited to return to campus for exhibitions, events, and the opportunity to catch up with old friends. Commemorative events are listed below. All openings and art exhibitions will be held in Kittredge Gallery and are free and open to the public. Details about attendance at the Jan. 27 colloquium will be available closer to the time.
Bill Colby Retrospective: Aug. 29–Sept. 24, 2016
Bill Colby will give a talk at the opening reception on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 5–7 p.m. Colby, professor emeritus of art at Puget Sound, has exhibited in the Northwest and nationally for six decades. His work is displayed in dozens of art museums, corporations, universities, and schools across the country. The Small Gallery will show works by recent art alumni grant recipients. Refreshments will be served. The gallery hours are below.
Past and Present Faculty Exhibition: Oct. 3–Nov. 5, 2016
Works by faculty members from the 1930s through the present will be shown, with an opening reception Friday, Oct. 21, 5–7 p.m. The exhibit coincides with Puget Sound Homecoming and Family Weekend.
Alumni Exhibition and Art History Colloquium: Jan. 17–Feb. 18, 2017
Works by alumni of the art and art history department will be displayed at Kittredge Gallery, and the public is invited to attend. The Art History Colloquium will run Friday, Jan. 27, and Saturday, Jan. 28, with an opening reception Friday, Jan. 27, 5–7 p.m. The keynote speaker will be Carolyn Dean ’80, professor, history of art and visual culture at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She will give a talk titled “Masonry and Meaning at Machu Picchu and Beyond.” Participants in the colloquium will include alumni and past and present faculty members. Details about attendance at the colloquium will be available closer to the time.
Abby Williams Hill Exhibit: Feb. 27–April 15, 2017
Students will curate paintings from the University of Puget Sound collection of Northwest pioneer and artist Abby Williams Hill for the public exhibition. Hill’s work provides a vision of many of the early American West's iconic sights and a picture of life between the Civil War and World War II. An opening reception will be held Wednesday, March 22, 5–7 p.m.
Gallery Location: the University of Puget Sound, N. 15th St. at N. Lawrence St., Tacoma, Wash.
Directions and Map: pugetsound.edu/directions
Regular Hours: Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Saturday, noon–5 p.m.
Website: pugetsound.edu/kittredge
Facebook: facebook.com/KittredgeGallery
Newsletter: Signup at pugetsound.edu/kittredge
For accessibility information, please contact accessibility@pugetsound.edu or 253.879.3236, or visit pugetsound.edu/accessibility
Press Photos are available upon request.
Photos on page: From top right: Students converse outside Kittredge Hall student center (1945); Art department faculty and students (1949); Kittredge Hall (1951).
Tweet this: GI’s home to art space: Kittredge Hall’s 75 remarkable years @univpugetsound. We’re celebrating! #Tacoma
Follow us on Twitter! twitter.com/univpugetsound