A HISTORY OF PACIFIC NORTHWEST COLLEGE OF ART The story of the Pacific Northwest College of Art is similar to that of other

museum affiliated colleges of art across the country. We emerged from a shared vision - students learning to make and study art at a school within an art museum. In Portland, Oregon, the Museum and College grew side by side. IN THE BEGINNING In 1891 seven men established the Portland Sketch Club. All were individuals who would shape the future culture and appearance of the city: Harry Wentz, artist; Albert E. Doyle, architect; Joseph Jacobberger, architect; John B. Reid, architect and business man; Seth Catlin, architecture student, and Fred Weber, merchant grocer. Among the four "ladies" admitted to the club, soon after it was established, were Anna Belle Crocker, an avid student of the arts and secretary to the banker W. M. Ladd; Clara Jane Stephens, who in 1913 had a one person exhibition in the Museum; Caroline Dilly; and Lillian P. Bain. The members of the Sketch Club were engaged in both drawing and painting, and held sessions indoors, as well as out in the countryside, working directly from nature. A year later in 1892, seven men founded the Portland Art Association, the Corporation that established the Museum of Art and Art School, and served as its first trustees for as long as six to thirty-six years. They were leading citizens and men of culture, community spirit and stature: H.W. Corbett, merchant; Dr. Holt C. Wilson, physician; Henry Failing, property developer; William M. Ladd, banker; W.D. Ayer, lumberman; The Reverend T. L. Elliot, minister of the First Unitarian Church; and C.E.S. Wood, attorney and poet. Of these eighteen individuals, founders of the Sketch Club and the Portland Art Association, three emerged as pivotal figures in the history of the Art School. Miss Crocker became the Curator of the Museum and Principal of the School, Harry Wentz was an exceptional teacher and mentor, and Dr. Wilson was a dedicated trustee and philanthropist who bequeathed an endowment for annual operations and scholarships. (Later, Mrs. Wilson's bequest included the remainder of their estate and mineral rights to property on Galveston Island, Texas.) Others of the original two groups, as well as their descendants, were to play important roles in future years. With the founding of the Art Association in 1892, and opening of the School of the Portland Art Association in 1909, the Association's trustees created a major cultural institution for their city. Their families and friends became involved and many continue to be guiding forces today. In 1894 W.H. Corbett purchased Greek and Roman plaster casts, under the advice of the Directors of the Boston and Metropolitan Museums. As soon as they were installed in their temporary quarters in the old Portland Library on Southwest Stark, the Sketch Club descended upon the galleries with drawing boards, paper and charcoal. Mr. Failing's sister, Henrietta H. Failing served as the Curator of the collections from 1895 to 1909 and as instructor of Art History from 1917 to 1940. In 1905 Mr. Ladd's mother gave $30,000 and Mr. Corbett gave property at Southwest Fifth and Taylor streets to build the Museum. C.E.S. Wood's friend, Childe Hassam, the noted American Impressionist painter, painted "Afternoon Sky, Harney Desert, while camping with Wood in Eastern Oregon in 1908. Miss Failing, Mr. Ayer, and others contributed $1,400 to purchase the painting. The following year, the Museum opened its first exhibition with the Greek and Roman plaster casts and the Hassam painting. After years of dedicated study of art and art museums, while supporting herself as Mr. Ladd's secretary, Anna Belle Crocker was appointed by the Trustees to the dual positions of Museum Curator and School Principal. Julia Hoffman, a patron committed to the arts and education, underwrote the salary for the first teacher, Kate Cameron Simmons, graduate of Teachers College, Columbia University, New York. Mrs. Hoffman was a founder of two other arts organizations, the Oregon Ceramic Studio founded in 1906, now named the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, and the Contemporary Crafts Gallery, founded in 1937. Harry Wentz, whose early art training took place at the Art Students League in New York City, was appointed Dean in 1910. Mr. Wentz, "keystone of the new school...artist and teacher extraordinary" together with Miss Crocker, shaped the vision, philosophy and curriculum of the School. The imprint of their twenty-six year association is the essence of the College's mission and curriculum today. From the London Academy to Philadelphia, and from Boston to Portland, Oregon, students learned to draw from Greek and Roman plaster casts of classical statuary that were on exhibition in the galleries. Soon, life drawing classes of the nude and clothed model became the backbone of art studies at Portland's Museum Art School.

The excitement of studying at the School became apparent to students in the fall of 1913 when Marcel Duchamp's "Nude Descending the Staircase" from the New York Armory Show traveled to Portland and was exhibited at the Museum. Students witnessed expressions of "shock and outrage" as the bastions of business and culture trooped through the galleries to see the "new art. It was at this time that the Portland Art Association claimed its place as the community's leader of contemporary artistic thought and values, in addition to being the repository of artistic artifacts. Art education continued to be the mission that drove the Association. In the Museum, exhibitions and collections were studied as part of the Art School curriculum and in 1914, the Portland School System hired a docent to take public school children on tours of the galleries. Also in 1914, the first certificates were awarded for completion of a three-year course of study in the Art School, and by 1917, one hundred twenty-seven students were enrolled. Extension Program classes, taught by the day school faculty, were held for adults and professionals on week nights. Saturday morning classes were especially for children. In 1921 Miss Crocker and Rex Arragon, Professor of History at Reed College, established a joint program of studies for students who attended both institutions. The Art Association out-grew its facilities within a short period of time. In 1930, Trustees negotiated purchase of an entire city block for a new Museum on the South Park Blocks in trade for the Fifth and Taylor Street property. Pietro Belluschi, alumnus of the Art School, member of Albert E. Doyle's architectural firm and future Dean of Architecture at MIT, designed the new facility for the Park Blocks site. The first wing to be constructed was named after its benefactor, W.D. Ayer. The Ladd Grammar School, located on the same block, was raised and the basement was covered with skylights to create a seven studio art school where students entered through the sculpture court of the attached Museum. During the next decade, both the Museum and School advanced rapidly. A close relationship between trustees, staff, faculty and students grew in an intimate atmosphere of an "extended family" with the attendant factions, frictions, and political activities common to such close associations. Miss Crocker retired in 1936 and Mr. Wentz in 1941. Miss Crocker said of Harry Wentz in a book that she published anonymously in 1946, Art in Oregon: "It goes deeper than we think, "He believed in work, not words; his strength lying in his direct relations with responsive students; he met them where they were and imported a quietly dynamic stimulus." In 1924, when asked in an interview to talk about his own philosophy, he said, "Artists strive to paint the soul of their subject, the spirit, the intangible personality of it." On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Museum Art School and the Oregon Centennial in 1959, Anna Belle Crocker and Harry Wentz were jointly honored by the Portland Art Commission, the Mayor and the city's Commissioners. Louise Aaron, art editor for The Oregon Journal, wrote, "Together they worked twenty-six years building, strengthening and expanding the museum and school....Portland Art Museum and its School, small and remote from the great centers of art, moved under Miss Crocker's and Wentz's leadership unobtrusively to put Portland ahead of its time in art" and, "Nor is it likely that these two dedicated persons saw how strongly the impact of their courage and convictions would affect generations to follow them." William Givler, member of the faculty for twenty one years, was appointed Dean of the Art School in 1944. He attended the Museum Art School and the Art Students League, New York, returning to Portland to join the faculty in 1923. Dean Givler continued to teach after his appointment, and led the School through a time of dramatic changes that came about in art education at the end of World War II. Immediately following the war, veterans began to enroll under the GI Bill and more men entered the program than ever before. Between 1939 and 1942, additions to the faculty were Charles Voorhies, who had studied painting at the California School of Fine Arts and apprenticed to Diego Rivera, Lloyd Reynolds, Professor of Art History at Reed College and later, Calligrapher Laureate of Oregon, and Hilda Morris, revered teacher, sculptor and master of sumi painting. Under Dean Givler's leadership the day school was reorganized from a three year to a fouryear course of study, and as the curriculum expanded, new faculty were recruited.
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The years immediately following the war brought renewed interest and energy to all programs in the Museum and School. There were waiting lists for evening classes, a second section was added in the first year of the day program and two classes were held in the evening to meet the demand. A Carnegie Grant funded "Summer Institutes" for two years, and afterwards there was sufficient enthusiasm to support the summer program. This period in the School's history marked an influx of new faculty and new directions in contemporary art. In 1946, Louis Bunce arrived from New York City bringing with him the fresh excitement of Abstract Expressionism that was sweeping the country. The following year another painter, Michele Russo, recent graduate of Yale University Graduate School of Art, arrived bringing with him a strong sense of history, politics, and social awareness. Lithuanian born artist, Frederick Littman, who studied with Maillol and at the Ecole des Beaux Artes, Paris, brought European traditions and a sense of classicism to the sculpture department. In 1947 Dean Givler invited Douglas Lynch who had studied at the Museum Art School, Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design, San Francisco, and Chouinard Art Institute, Los Angeles with Alexander Archipenko, to develop and establish a program of study in commercial design. These new faculty members joined Leta Kennedy, another early graduate of the Museum Art School, who taught design and ceramics. Miss Kennedy received a B.S. degree from Teachers College, Columbia University and studied with Hans Hofmann, Moholy Nage and Dorothy Liebes. She began teaching at the Art School in 1922 and was an inspiration to students in both the Day School and Extension Program for forty-seven years. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s the Art School continued to expand. Students came from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. They were attracted to the School by the reputation of its faculty of artists, and because it was the center of a burgeoning and exciting visual arts community. New instructors continued to be added to the faculty: Jack McClarty, George Johanson and Harry Widman joined the Painting Department, Manuel Izquierdo taught sculpture with Fred Litmann, Bennet Welsh developed ceramics as a major, William Grand initiated photography into the curriculum, and Byron Ferris made the expanding Graphic Design Department a focus for Portland's burgeoning design community. The painters and sculptors taught life drawing and printmaking in addition to their own areas of specialization. The School's seven studios were jammed day and night, on weekends and during the summer. A fourth year was added to the day program to include a thesis project in the Spring Semester which culminated in oral examinations, an exhibition in the Museum, and awarding a diploma in May. This was the first step toward accreditation and it placed the School among Oregon's Independent Colleges. Accreditation was received in 1961 from the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges and the National Association of Schools of Art. 1960 - 1970: THE EXPANSION YEARS In 1946 the Trustees had articulated the need for expansion of the School. In their comprehensive plan, titled, Joint Report of Special Committee on Policy and Administration they stated, "The growth of the school in all of its aspects, both in the number of students and in the scope of its program of instruction, has emphasized vividly the importance of a new School building." It was not until 1968 that a plan was fully developed which would replace the overcrowded studios, and complete the Museum building that Pietro Belluschi designed in 1930. The Hirsch Wing was constructed in 1939 and Mr. Belluschi planned a school wing to be built on the opposite side of the block. Between July 1, 1967 and June 1, 1968, Trustees joined by staff, faculty, students, alumni and volunteers, raised $1,675,000 in record breaking time to begin construction in the Fall 1968. The L. Hawley Hoffman Wing, named after Julia Hoffman's son, comprised the Carolyn Berg-Swann Auditorium and five floors of studios designed to accommodate two hundred students. Museum offices were remodeled in the lower Hirsch Wing and a new vault was added under the Auditorium. The Evans H. Roberts Memorial Sculpture Mall at the entrance to the school completed the new addition. During construction of the new facilities, the Art School occupied temporary quarters at S.W. Culpepper Terrace, the site of the former Catlin School. (This property, now a neighborhood community center, was sold to the city rather than being retained by the Association for future use.) After moving into the new building, the School grew rapidly, and with the addition of Liberal Arts studies to the curriculum, and instructors to teach
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literature, history and expanded courses in art history, the School received approval from its accrediting institutions to award the BFA degree in 1969. 1970-1980: TIMES OF TURMOIL Dean Givler spent only two years in the new building which he had helped to plan and bring about. In 1972 he was granted a much deserved sabbatical leave to travel in Europe, prior to his retirement in 1973. During that year, William Benton, poet, musician and playwright who had been an instructor in the Liberal Arts Department was appointed Acting Dean. Givler had served the institution for fifty continuous years, longer than any trustee, curator, director, or other member of the faculty. He taught painting and printmaking in the day and evening programs while simultaneously carrying out the administrative duties of Dean. He led the Art School through vast changes in art education nationally, ones marked by wide swings from the conservatism of the academy, to the "do your own thing" school. Dean Givler maintained a steady and balanced course between the fundamentals of art training and open inquiry, dialogue and experimentation. The School did not bend to fashion but remained close to the principles and philosophy of its founders, Miss Crocker and Mr. Wentz. Over the next eighteen years the School's ability to fulfill its mission was thoroughly tested. Successive changes in the administration and rotation of Trustees on and off the Association's Board resulted in loss of continuity in purpose and shifts in management styles and structure. At times faculty and staff were required to divert energy and resources from the operations and purposes of the art school simply to maintain the school's existence within the larger organization. This loss of continuity, and its impact on the stability of the school was compounded by the continual turnover of Board members. The stabilizing factor, from the 1950s through the 70s, was the faculty and staff of both the Museum and School. Dr. Francis Newton, Director of the Portland Art Association and Museum, Hans Von Schmidt, Museum Registrar, Rachael Griffin, Curator, Polly Eyerley, Curator of Education, and Robert Peirce, Librarian, were active participants in the work of both the Museum and the School. Mrs. Griffin was a graduate of the Art School, and had been a teacher and Director of the Children's Saturday Classes, as well as an instructor of sculpture in the Day School. In the early 50s she became the Museum's Curator of Education, and was promoted to Chief Curator, when Francis Newton, formerly Curator, was appointed Director of the Association. Polly Eyerley, who had been Assistant to Mrs. Griffin, followed her as Curator of Education. Robert Peirce, Librarian, Harvard University graduate and classics scholar, was a facilitator and mentor to all who used the library: students, docents, curators, volunteers, and the general public. He was later made editor of Museum publications. All fostered strong ties and interaction between the School's faculty and its curriculum, and the Museum's exhibition, education and docent programs. They were vocal and visible spokespersons for the institution in the larger community and state. But their combined commitment, and that of a handful of dedicated trustees, could not stem the tide of change and threatening forces that were bearing down on the institution. In the late 70s and early 80s economic crisis became a constant and debilitating factor throughout the whole Association. The threat of shrinking enrollment, reduced revenue sources for operations and student financial aid, internal competition for grants, and escalating expenses combined to create a precarious situation. The gradual realization that the Association was in a serious deficit position fueled the Board's perception of the school as a burden. Rachael Griffin retired in 1974, and Donald Jenkins, Associate Director of Oriental Art at the Chicago Art Institute, and former Assistant Curator at the Portland Art Museum in the 50's and 60's, was appointed Curator. A new Dean, Warren Wolf, was hired after a national search begun two years in advance of Dean Givler's retirement. Warren Wolf had spent six years at Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, and two years as Chairman of the Fine Arts Department at State University College Buffalo, in New York. Through his work at
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Moore College of Art he had become an active participant in the national community of independent schools of art. He was a member of the National Association of Schools of Art and served on the NASA Accreditation Commission. He quickly determined that the Museum Art School, while housed in a beautiful new facility, was under-funded and lacked both basic equipment and faculty, and essentials such as ventilation, (which surprisingly had not been included in construction of the facility). Between 1972 and 1976 the faculty was expanded, following a nation-wide search for both artists and scholars. New additions were: Robert Hanson, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Paul Missal, MFA, Yale University; William Moore, MFA, University of Michigan; Jim Hicks, MA, University of Oregon; Tom Fawkes, MFA, Cranbrook; and Elizabeth Lindsay, MA, Portland State University. (Louie Bunce was the first of the old guard faculty to retire, followed over the next ten years by Mike Russo, George Johanson and Jack McClarty.) In addition to increased salary expenses by 1976, Dean Wolf proposed additional budget increases that would require a major increase in support from the Association. The Trustees were not in agreement with the Deans aggressive plans and as a result, the four years of his leadership at the School were stormy and stressful for all involved, and he departed in 1977. In the minds of the Trustees the School had been weakened as a result of the controversy which led to Dean Wolfs departure. In 1975 Dr. Newton stepped down and Donald Jenkins was appointed to the position of Director of the Association. The same year Alumni and Friends was formed as a support group to develop new resources of support for the School and increase scholarship funds. One of the founding members, Bing Sheldon, became a Trustee and President of the Art Association. Katherine Corbett, who has served the institution for close to fifty years as a trustee, founding Activities Council member, President of Alumni and Friends Board, and later, Chair of the College Committee, was instrumental in strengthening the Board of Alumni and Friends with the addition of new and active young community leaders. Warren Wolf's departure in 1977 precipitated an era of major upheaval at the School. Over the next four years the potential to develop the School, during a period of growth among art colleges nationally, was severely diminished. Faculty were pressed into service to be the School's administrators. Charles Kelly, President of the Faculty Council, was appointed by the Trustees to be Acting Dean. He served through the Summer and Fall Semester of 1977 but did not return to the school following a sabbatical leave, which was granted for Spring Semester 1978. During this time an aborted search for a new Dean took place. The individual who had been selected by the Deans search Committee declined the appointment at the last moment, after discovering that the school's position within the Association had been weakened. Harry Widman, also a senior and tenured member of the faculty, assumed the responsibilities of Acting Dean, January, 1978 and remained in that position through December 1980. He was a strong and stabilizing force; a leader and valuable participant in two separate studies of the school which followed. The newly appointed Chairman of the Board, Robert Warren, had discontinued the Deans search, and in 1977 engaged a team of "outside" evaluators to conduct an independent evaluation and comprehensive feasibility study of the School. A financial analysis was prepared proposing six different possible scenarios which ranged from complete dissolution to merger with another institution locally, or nationally. The Rhode Island School of Design was visited by the Chairman of the Board, Chairwoman of the School Committee, the Director of the Association, and the Acting Dean to determine if that institution would be interested in a West Coast campus. Meanwhile, the uncertain plight of the School aroused great indignation and subsequently support from friends throughout art and academic communities locally and nationally. Deans and Directors of other accredited art schools and university art departments nationwide wrote letters of support to the Trustees. This overwhelming response caused the Trustees to shift their plans from closure or "spin off" to a renewed commitment to the Art School as an essential and integral part of the mission and work of the Association. The decision to retain the School was given further impetus when the Trustees received the results of the independent evaluation. The study clearly indicated that the School was not only a sound academic
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institution with a highly respected national reputation but, it was a financial resource, providing the Association year-around cash flow from tuition income. The process of study and evaluation resulted in a well-informed group of individuals on the Board, sensitive to the needs of the school, and committed to its advancement. 1980-1990: CLARIFYING THE POTENTIAL The Chairman of the Board, Director of the Association and Art Museum, Acting Dean of the School and Director of the Northwest Film Study Center met during the Spring of 1980 and decided on a management structure for the Association which signaled major changes in administration: the Dean of the Art School would became Director and have equal status with the Directors of the Museum and Film Study Center, and a new position, Executive Director, would be created for the purpose of overall management and providing administrative services to the three divisions. The trustees initiated a search for both Executive Director and Director of the School. Barbara Gibbs, Acting Executive Director, who supported the School in all its efforts, was offered the new position but declined it. She accepted instead the position of Deputy Director until 1983, at which time she moved to Sacramento, California to become Director of the Crocker Museum of Art. This period of traumatic change was not without its bright moments. Dr. Gordon Gilkey, former Dean of Oregon State University, and an internationally honored artist and collector, had in 1978 selected the Portland Art Museum as the institution to receive his and Mrs. Gilkey's extensive and comprehensive collection of Graphic works. Dr. Gilkey joined the Museum staff as Curator of Prints and Drawings, and the School as Artist in Residence, tenured member of the faculty and Chairman of the Print Department. His many years of experience in higher education, and sage advice, provided invaluable support to the Acting Dean, faculty, and later, to the Schools Interim Director. In January of 1981, Sally Lawrence, a former gallery owner and director, who had been associated with the Art Association as a volunteer for twenty-four years, was invited by the faculty to be Interim Director until the new Director, Al Hammer, took over in July. He arrived at a time when PNCA was ready to settle down and get on with the business of an art school, but stability, like financial security, would elude the School for several years to come. Dr. Stephen Ostrow, became Director of the Portland Art Association in January, 1981. He was joined by Al Hammer in mid-July. Both Stephen Ostrow and Al Hammer came from institutions of higher education. Ostrow had been Chairman of the Department of Fine Arts at University of Southern California and, previously, Director of the Museum at Rhode Island School of Design. Hammer had been Dean of the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Manitoba and, formerly, Dean of Students at the Cleveland Institute of Art. They agreed that the School needed to assert itself and actively recruit on a national scale, and, in addition, become more visible in the arena of other independent colleges of art. To define the Schools location and status as a degree granting college, the name was changed from Museum Art School to Pacific Northwest College of Art. Ostrow and Hammer, though of similar backgrounds, were of very dissimilar management styles, and it was soon apparent they did not share a mutual vision for the future of the College. The situation was resolved for Hammer in October while attending the Annual Meeting of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design in Kansas City. While there, he was invited to apply for the position of Dean of Hartford Art School, Hartford University, Connecticut. He applied and was offered the position, and moved to Hartford with his family following graduation, May 1982. (Ostrow appointed Sally Lawrence Acting Director. She had returned to the School as Assistant Director after Hammer arrived in July.)

Within a few months of his arrival in Portland, Dr. Ostrow decided that the decision to support and sustain three divisions within the Association was a mistake, and he assembled a Long Range Planning Committee to determine the future of the College. For the second time in less than five years, the Trustees were asked to consider closing or "spinning off," the College they had just renamed. Again, the Alumni and Friends rallied other dedicated supporters, trustees and former trustees, faculty, students, friends in the art community and colleagues across the country to pressure the Board of Trustees to reconsider. After the study unquestionably established the College's viability, Dr. Ostrow resigned and moved to Washington DC to take a position in the Library of Congress. Another search was launched for an Executive Director of the Portland Art Association. The trustees looked for an individual who would share their commitment to maintaining an institution comprised of three distinct divisions. They changed the title of Executive Director to President, reconfirming the authority of a chief executive of the Association with three directors for each of the three divisions to be hired by, report to, and serve at the pleasure of the President. They selected Dan Monroe, Deputy Director of the Alaska State Museum, Juneau, Alaska to carry out this concept. In June 1984 Monroe arrived to take on the large task of mending a strife torn institution. One of his first decisions was to change the name of the Portland Art Association to the Oregon Art Institute to better reflect the institution's out-reach throughout the state. He envisioned a single institution, which encompassed programs for exhibitions, collections, and education, thus blurring the divisional lines between the Museum, College, and Film Center. As a first step toward greater unity, he unlocked the doors between the College and the Museum during Museum open hours. The locked doors had become a symbol of alienation for the College and this event marked new beginnings. Dan Monroe appointed Sally Lawrence, Director of the College, and Bill Foster, Director of the Film Center, (Foster had held the position since 1981), and Donald Jenkins continued as Director of the Art Museum. In 1988, Monroe hired Jerry Bolas, former Director of the Museum of Art at George Washington University, St. Louis, to take over as Museum Director. Donald Jenkins stepped aside to become Curator of Asian Art. In 1985, Trustees, staff, faculty, and support groups, had began a concerted effort to strengthen the financial base of the College in response to changing needs of students for revised curricula, new programs, new and improved facilities, and increased need for financial aid. College staff applied for and received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Northwest Area Foundation, Collins Foundation, Murdock Charitable Trust, Union Pacific Foundation, Hearst Foundation, and US Department of Education, Title III, institutional strengthening and endowment challenge grant programs. (The second strengthening grant was received in 1994.) Funds were used for the specific purposes of curricula study, acquiring an administration management information system, a computer graphics lab to serve all departments, and a separate endowment for scholarships and financial aid. Trustees responded to the evidence of external support from government and foundations by allocating some reserved funds for repairs to the building, replacement of old equipment, and installation of required security and safety measures. Approximately $100,000 was invested in the College from the $293,000 that was allocated for the total Institute. Trustees also helped to raise funds and personally contributed to the 1990-1991 Endowment Challenge Grant. 1990 - 1996: INDEPENDENCE AND CONSOLIDATION The name of the Extension Programs was changed to Continuing Education in 1995. Beginning in 1990, enrollment in Continuing Education classes and the degree program continued to increase until additional space was required to continue to guarantee both the quality and diversity of the programs. Additionally, further growth became essential to achieve an economy of scale for operations. While the College was looking to expand its space, the Museum was increasingly hampered in its efforts to increase exhibition programs and expand collections. For many years trustees looked to the Masonic Temple, on the adjoining block to the North, as the logical place to begin expansion. They assembled a team of past and present members of the Board, men and women of means and prominence, to work together to acquire the Temple.
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By 1991 the Oregon Art Institute had completed negotiations and purchased the Temple and the parking lot on Main Street. The active players in the acquisition process were: Chair of the Board, Pete Mark, and current and past members, Doug Goodman, Eric Hoffman, Roger Meier, and Harold Schnitzer. While the Trustees completed negotiations to acquire the new facility, the College faculty and staff prepared a comprehensive Self-Study in preparation for a joint reaccredidation team visit from the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (NASC) and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) to take place late September, 1991. By then, the Rex Arragon Library was moved to the second floor of the Museum North Wing, (as the Temple came to be known), senior thesis painting students were at work on the third floor in newly remodeled and ventilated painting studios. The 1991 Self-study, NASC/NASAD team visit, joint report and recommendations, and subsequent reaccredidation of the College was the catalyst for the second most important milestone since the College was founded, and it ultimately resulted in the separation of the College from the Museum in 1994. The Self-study revealed that the College did not have a governing Board that was appropriate for a contemporary institution of higher education. The Institutes College Committee, comprised of Trustees and two community members at large, did not have specific terms of service, a defined process for establishing and maintaining policies, or responsibility and authority over fiscal matters. The Director examined the accrediting agencies standards for governance and prepared a proposal to bring the College into compliance. It provided a structure for a governing board with semi-autonomy and authority to provide appropriate fiscal oversight. The Chair of the Committee, Dr. Joseph Blumel presented the proposal to the Institutes Executive Committee and the concept was approved Spring, 1991. The Board of Governors was formed and in place for the NASC and NASAD team visit in September, and Dr. Blumel, former President of Portland State University, was appointed Chair of the new Board. The Statement of Authority and Responsibilities of the Board of Governors was ratified by the full Museum Board, December 1992. While the self-study was being prepared, the Oregon Art Institute Board, at the suggestion of Dan Monroe, again made structural changes in the institution and ultimately in the management and operation of the organization. The corporate name, Oregon Art Institute, formerly the Portland Art Association, was changed to the Portland Art Museum at a special membership meeting called by the Trustees, August 26, 1991. Monroe considered it a step in his effort to move away from the "holding company" model established in 1980, and reinforcement of his concept of a single institution named the Portland Art Museum, which comprised programs of the Museum and Film Center, and was associated with the College. In part due to the reorganization, Museum Director, Gerry Boles decided to take a leave of absence to complete his dissertation for a doctorate in Art History, and subsequently resigned. Monroe appointed Prudence Roberts to be Acting Director while continuing her duties as Curator of American and European Art. Following the September 1991 visit of the joint reaccrediting team, NASC and NASAD Accreditation Commissions reviewed the teams report in December and both agencies granted reaccredidation to the College. Progress reports on compliance and response to specific recommendations were requested at three and five years following the visit. The Commissions were particularly concerned that clear delineation of authority and governance of the College be established and maintained. The College Director participated in planning sessions during Summer and Fall, 1992, with Museum and Film Center staff to create a Master Facility Plan to incorporate existing facilities, the North Wing, and the parking lot on the adjacent block. The plan was delayed when Monroe accepted the position of Director of the recently combined Peabody and Essex Museums in Salem, Massachusetts. Phil Bogue, long associated with the Museum, formerly Director of the Portland State University Foundation, and Board member of TRIMET, was appointed by the Museum Board Chair to be Acting President of the Portland Art Museum. An Executive Director Search Committee was named, chaired by Museum Trustee, Lisa Andres, to search for and recruit a Director for the Portland Art Museum.
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During this time, the Task Force Committee, appointed by Museum Board Chair, Melvin Pete Mark, and chaired by former Trustee, Hank Lawn, completed its work of examining the relationship between the College and the Museum, including: joint ownership of the Rex Arragon Library; College ownership of the Hoffman Wing, equipment, and furnishings; and, ownership of a portion of the endowments. It was the intent of the Committee that there would be a gradual move to autonomy for the College. The conclusions and recommendations were submitted to the Executive Committee of the Museum Board and subsequently approved by the full Board on August 23, 1993. The Museum Search Committee completed its work and selected John Buchanan from the Dixon Museum in Memphis, Tennessee to be the Executive Director of the Portland Art Museum and to assume his duties May 1, 1994. The conclusion to the search was a catalyst for accelerating decisions to separate the College from the Museum. An implementation Committee was appointed comprised of two members from each Board to oversee and carry out the process of preparing agreements and documents for separation of the two institutions. Tom Deering and John Acurso represented the College and Sheila Winnoski and Joe Vobreil, the Museum. The Committee prepared and completed final separation documents in October 1995. Agreements were signed by the Board of Governors Chair, Nan Koerner and the Museum Board Chair, Melvin Pete Mark. In preparation for separation, and to meet the responsibility of added administrative responsibilities, Jerry Bores was hired, August 1994, as Financial Officer. April 1994, Pacific Northwest College of Art became legally incorporated in Oregon. Bank accounts were opened separate from the Museums, endowment funds were transferred, and an IRS designation was applied for and received December 1994. The College experienced profound changes between 1993 - 1998. Agreements called for the College to move from the Hoffman Wing by September 1998. Committed to meeting these challenges, the Board, faculty, students, alumni, and staff worked together to achieve the large task set before the College. A Campus Task Force was formed in 1995 to begin researching options for facilities for the Colleges move and in the spring of 1997 the Development Office launched a Capital Campaign for a new facility and increased endowments. Over $2,600,000 was raised for the project and funds continue to come in to cover additional expenses not in the original budget. Support from the community proved to be very positive. In the summer of 1998 the college moved into its newly renovated building in the northwest Pearl District. This move consolidated satellite locations bringing the students together under one roof. The sculpture th studio remains in the adjacent building on 13 Street. The area provides exciting possibilities for further expansion as the student body continues to grow and PNCA anticipates meeting its future goals. The new PNCA building is owned by Morton and Edith Goodman and has been named the Edith Goodman Building. PNCA engaged Holst Architecture, an emerging young architectural firm to design the space, and they worked closely with R&H Construction to complete the remodeling project. The outstanding design and construction has won numerous awards for Holst, R&H and PNCA, including the Unbuilt Citation award for excellence in Design from the American Institute of Architects, and the Governors Liveability Award. Educational programs continue to grow and change in response to demands for new careers in the arts and the needs of students in an era of rapid growth in technology and communications. The Pacific Northwest College of Art looks to the future, to being a catalyst for change in arts education, and to continuing its leadership role for contemporary artistic thought and education in the visual arts in Oregon and the northwest. In June of 2003 as PNCA completed its fifth year in the Pearl District, and after twenty-two years of leadership at the College, Sally Lawrence retired from her position as President.
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After an extensive search, the Board hired Thomas Manley from Pitzer College in Claremont California as the new president of PNCA. Dr. Manley began his position as President in July of 2003.

Updated August 2005

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