‘Enthusiastic energy’: How the Fort Wayne Art School underpinned Fort Wayne’s art and culture scene

If you’ve ever visited the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, you’ve witnessed a bit of Fort Wayne’s artistic history reflected in physical form. 

The museum’s origins can be traced to informal art classes taught in 1888. Those classes eventually evolved into what would become known as the Fort Wayne Art School in 1897. During its heyday, the campus was a vibrant addition to the historic West Central neighborhood.

Rachelle Reinking/Arts UnitedThe Fort Wayne Museum of ArtSuzanne Slick is a 1981 graduate of the Fort Wayne Art School and now works as the collection information specialist at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. Straddling both worlds, she brings a great deal of institutional knowledge on the topic. 

“The students benefitted from one-on-one time with professors, small classes and the intimacy of the one-block campus,” she says of the school. “Many of the faculty members not only kept studios on the campus but also lived in the neighborhood. The campus was a hubbub of activity– often from morning until late into the night.”

CourtesySuzanne Slick, 1981 graduate of the Fort Wayne Art School and collection information specialist at the Fort Wayne Museum of ArtThe mood changed when the school and the museum separated in 1977, though it was under friendly terms. The Fort Wayne Art School became a department of Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne (now Purdue Fort Wayne). The museum remained in West Central, operating out of the school’s galleries until it moved to its current location on East Main Street in 1984.

If you ask Charles Shepard, president and CEO of the Fort Wayne Art Museum, this “happy breakup” actually set both institutions up for success in the end. 

“The gallery people became the museum people,” he explains. “They were happy (about the move) because now they’ve got more space. They could use former classrooms and turn them into galleries. And you know, the school and Museum of Art were in the West Central neighborhood in private homes that had been given to them or sold to them, in some cases. No longer did they have to make the case to get more gallery space. They could use any of the buildings they wanted.”

Courtesy of FWMoA ArchivesA news clipping showing an evening drawing class at the Fort Wayne Art School.Similarly, he says the teaching staff were elated, generally speaking, because joining the ranks at IPFW meant continuity in employment and health insurance benefits. 

Around this time, their aspirations about becoming a more permanent museum began to grow and strengthen. According to Shepard, the city had some property on lower Main Street that had been flattened by urban renewal. The timing proved to be perfect for such an investment.

“If you're going to really have a museum, why don't you move down here and (we’ll) give you the land, and we'll help you get going with the fundraising,” he says about the city’s offer. “And that's really how the Fort Wayne Museum of Art was born—  from enthusiasm on both parties, the former faculty and the gallery people.”

By 1984, they had raised enough money to construct a 40,000-square-foot building to house their exhibitions, programs and collections. In 2010, the building was transformed by the addition of 10,000 square feet to increase the number of exhibitions, programs and visitors. The museum boasts a collection of more than 6,000 pieces and inspires people from 48 states.

A sign made by One Lucky Guitar for the Fort Wayne Museum of Art.The Fort Wayne Museum of Art isn’t the only local cultural institution with a link to the Fort Wayne Art School, however. Bruce Linker, founder of the art gallery Artlink, was inspired by the cohort of art students and recent graduates in the area. Though not an artist himself, Linker wanted to support the creative community somehow. The idea was to start an art gallery of sorts for local up-and-coming artists in Fort Wayne. Artlink filled a void in that it provided somewhere for these creatives to showcase their work which had a lower barrier to entry than the art museum.

Artlink and the Fort Wayne Art School’s history intersected once again when the now-late dynamo Betty Fishman took the helm at the art gallery in 1990 and served in that capacity until 2006. In 1955, Fishman was president of the board of directors of the Fort Wayne Art School and Museum and facilitated the art school’s merger with IPFW. According to her obituary, the arts advocate served on the board of the Fine Arts Foundation. In this role, she was instrumental in shaping the Louis Kahn-designed Theatre of Performing Arts, now known as the Arts United Center. This experience exposed her to world-renowned architects who competed for the commission. 

“She was remarkable, a very interesting human being as far as her talents,” says Linker. “She went to art school and accomplished so much in her lifetime. She was an inspiration for a lot of women in Fort Wayne in the arts.”

ArtlinkArtlink's 45th Members ShowcaseSpeaking of inspiration, Linker recalls being impressed with Fort Wayne Art School graduates like Dale Enochs, Joel Fremion, Tim Johnson and Ed Alvarez. These men were some of the big names at the time in the city. To his knowledge, all of these artists are still active and they’ve inspired others to do the same. 

This aligns with Slick’s experience. 

“There are so many former students in our community who are teaching art or are retired educators,” she says. “Many former students are producing art or supporting the arts and there are many who chose other paths but who value the training they received at the Fort Wayne Art School.”

As recently as last fall, Johnson and Enochs joined forces for a first-ever combined art show, at Johnson’s studio gallery in the old Art School’s B Building at 1018 W. Berry. This comes as no surprise to Linker, who found the art scene in the late 1970s to be tight-knit. 

Though Linker relocated to Michigan nearly 40 years ago, he still keeps tabs on the local gallery scene.

“If you look down at the galleries on Broadway, there's a lot of local artists being able to exhibit their work,” he says. “It’s very inspiring to see these galleries set up. I hope they flourish. They’ve got some good programs, like monthly art openings. It’s fun watching it (from afar).”

ArtlinkArtlink's Midwest Regional ExhibitionLinker says it’s gratifying to see this activity, especially considering there were so few outlets before Artlink and subsequent galleries. In his estimation, “so many people have put time and money and effort into continuing the opportunities for artists in the community.”