Fourth Floor Artwork – A. Ray Olpin Student Union

Artwork Name: Russet October

Artist: Lee Greene Richards

Year: 1930

Medium: Oil

Artist Information: Lee Greene Richards was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1878. He was a successful professional artist and teacher known for his portraits of prominent citizens, landscapes, and murals at the State Capitol. He died in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1950.

Richards and his early colleagues, Mahonri Young and A. B. Wright, were part of the Twentieth Ward Group. J. T. Harwood was their teacher. Richards studied for three years (1901–4) in France, first at the Académie Julian and then, after passing the rigorous entrance exam, at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Although best known for portraiture, Richards also painted landscapes and murals. His mural depicting Utah pioneers is on the dome of the Utah State Capitol. His murals are also on the ceilings of several temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Biography adapted from Springville Museum of Art.

Artwork Name: Bird in the Landscape

Artist: Doug Snow

Year: 1965

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Artist Information: Considered one of the most exciting and dynamic painters of the West, V. Douglas Snow ranks among the most significant influencers of the Utah modernist school. His work is described both as Abstract Expressionism–with the stipulation that it is not the typical avant-garde abstract expressionism–and also as Academic Abstract Impressionism. Whatever one chooses to label his works, it is clear his paintings are a successful marriage of several styles, and the resultant art works are both powerful and also individualistic.

Snow studied at the University of Utah from 1943-1945, majoring in theater. He later attended New York’s American Art School, Columbia University, and the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. At Cranbrook, Snow rapidly finished a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine Arts in 1949 and 1950.

Artwork Name: Chocolate Satelite

Artist: Anthony Smith

Year: 1971

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Artist Information: Frank A. Smith was born August 4, 1939 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Smith is a painter of imaginative illusionist works. He lives, works, and teaches in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Smith earned a B.F.A. in 1961 and an M.F.A. in 1964 at the University of Utah, and has been a faculty member at the same institution since 1966. His work is known nationally, and he is generally considered to be on of the finest and most imaginative illusionist artists working in the country today.

Artwork Name: September Market

Artist: Ed Maryon

Year: 1969

Medium: Watercolor

Artist Information: Ed Maryon was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1931. A watercolorist and educator, he influenced students while maintaining an active professional life. He died in Salt Lake City in 2005.

Ed Maryon received his BFA from the University of Utah in 1952, and his MFA in 1956. He credits his undergraduate instructors, LeConte Stewart, Alvin Gittins, Arnold Friberg, and George Dibble, as the most influential in his life.

In 1962, Maryon was named chairman of the art department at the University of Utah. Throughout his teaching and administrative career, Maryon was a prolific watercolorist whose work was exhibited in local galleries. He won the Watercolor Society’s Best of Show in 1981 and the gold medal award for annual national art exhibition in Springville in 1981.

Biography adapted from material supplied by the Artist’s family.

Artwork Name: Presidents’ Circle

Artist: Donald Brady

Year: Unknown

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Artist Information: Donald Ray Brady was a talented individual with a deep passion for music. Born on June 28, 1939, in Alamosa, Colorado, he spent much of his childhood in Utah, North Carolina, and New York. After studying at Brigham Young University and serving a mission in Germany for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he pursued a PhD in Biochemistry at Cornell University. It was there that he met his true love, Linda McConkie, and they were married in St. George, Utah. Don and Linda raised nine children in Memphis, Tennessee, where he worked as a faculty member at the University of Memphis. Don’s legacy includes his unwavering faith, love for family, and his musical talents. He was an accomplished singer, pianist, and guitarist, and he composed numerous original arrangements of songs. Don’s service to his church and community, along with his curiosity and love for learning, left a lasting impact. He passed away on October 15, 2022, at the age of 8312. His memorial service took place in Bountiful, Utah, and a graveside service followed in Manassa, Colorado1. His dedication to music and his positive influence on those around him will be remembered fondly by many.