The main building of the former Black Mountain College, on the grounds of Camp Rockmont, a summer camp for boys.

Black Mountain College, founded in 1933 near Asheville, North Carolina, was known as one of the leading progressive schools in the United States. It ceased operations in 1957. Although it lasted only about twenty-three years and enrolled fewer than 1,200 students, Black Mountain College was one of the most fabled experimental institutions in art education and practice, launching a remarkable number of the artists who spearheaded the avant-garde in the America of the 1960s.^{[citation needed]} It boasted an extraordinary curriculum in the visual, literary, and performing arts, and its legacy continues to influence an alternative educational philosophy and practice.^{[citation needed]} Not to be confused with Ashville. ... For other uses, see College (disambiguation). ... A work similar to Marcel Duchamps Fountain Avant garde (written avant-garde) is a French phrase, one of many French phrases used by English speakers. ... The Mona Lisa is one of the most recognizable artistic paintings in the Western world. ... Creative writing is a term used to distinguish certain imaginative or different types of writing from generic writing. ... The performing arts are those forms of art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artists own body, face and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some...

History

Founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier and other former faculty of Rollins College, Black Mountain was experimental by nature and committed to an interdisciplinary approach, attracting a faculty which included many of America's leading visual artists, poets, and designers.^{[citation needed]} John A. Rice is the founder and first rector of Black Mountain College. ... Rollins College is an institution of higher learning located in Winter Park, Florida. ... Interdisciplinary work is that which integrates concepts across different disciplines. ...

Operating in a relatively isolated rural location with little budget, Black Mountain College inculcated an informal and collaborative spirit, and over its lifetime attracted a venerable roster of instructors. Some of the innovations, relationships and unexpected connections formed at Black Mountain would prove to have a lasting influence on the postwar American art scene, high culture, and eventually pop culture.^{[citation needed]} Buckminster Fuller met student Kenneth Snelson at Black Mountain, and the result was the first geodesic dome (improvised out of slats in the school's back yard); Merce Cunningham formed his dance company; and John Cage staged his first happening. Popular culture, or pop culture, is the vernacular (peoples) culture that prevails in a modern society. ... Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller (July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983)[1] was an American visionary, designer, architect, poet, author, and inventor. ... Needle Tower by Kenneth Snelson (1968) Needle Tower II by Kenneth Snelson (1969) Kenneth Snelson (born June 29, 1927) is a contemporary sculptor and photographer. ... Spaceship Earth in Epcot Center at Walt Disney World is perhaps one of the most famous examples of a large scale geodesic sphere. ... Merce Cunningham (born April 16, 1919 in Centralia, Washington, United States) is an American dancer and choreographer. ... For the Mortal Kombat character, see Johnny Cage. ... A happening is a performance, event or situation meant to be considered as art. ...

Not a haphazardly conceived venture, Black Mountain College was a consciously directed liberal arts school that grew out of the progressive education movement. In its day it was a unique educational experiment for the artists and writers who conducted it, and as such an important incubator for the American avant garde. Black Mountain proved to be an important precursor to and prototype for many of the alternative colleges of today ranging from the University of California, Santa Cruz and Marlboro College to Evergreen State College, Shimer College and New College of Florida among others. In the history of education, the seven liberal arts comprise two groups of studies, the trivium and the quadrivium. ... Educational progressivists believe that education must be based on the fact that humans are social animals who learn best in real-life activities with other people. ... For other uses, see Avant-garde (disambiguation). ... “UCSC” redirects here. ... Marlboro College is a small alternative liberal-arts college in Marlboro, Vermont, USA. // Marlboro College was founded in 1946 by returning World War II veterans on Potash Hill in Marlboro, Vermont. ... The Evergreen State College wordmark The Evergreen State College is an accredited public baccalaureate college, founded in 1967 in the state capital, Olympia, Washington. ... Shimer College is a liberal arts college in Chicago, Illinois, which is best known for its small class sizes and its Great Books curriculum. ... New College of Florida is a highly selective public liberal arts college located in Sarasota, Florida. ...

For the first eight years, the college rented the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly buildings south of Black Mountain town. In 1941, it moved across the valley to its own campus at Lake Eden where it remained until its closing in 1956. The property was later purchased and converted to an ecumenical Christian boys' residential summer camp (Camp Rockmont), which later became a long-time location of the Black Mountain Festival and the Lake Eden Arts Festival. A number of the original structures are still in use as lodgings and/or administrative facilities. Black Mountain is a town in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. ...

Faculty and alumni

Among those who taught there in the 1940s and 1950s were:

Josef and Anni Albers, Eric Bentley, Alfred Kazin, John Cage, Harry Callahan, Robert Creeley, Merce Cunningham, Max Dehn, Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Robert Duncan, Buckminster Fuller, Walter Gropius, Lou Harrison, Franz Kline, Jacob Lawrence, Richard Lippold, Charles Olson, M. C. Richards, Albert William Levi, Ben Shahn, Aaron Siskind, Jack Tworkov, and Robert Motherwell. Josef Albers (born March 19, 1888 in Bottrop, Westphalia (Germany) - died March 26, 1976 in New Haven, Connecticut), was a German artist and educator whose work, both in Europe and in the United States, formed the basis of some of the most influential and far-reaching art education programs of... Annelise Albers (née Fleischmann) (1899 - May 9, 1994) was a German-American textile artist and printmaker. ... Eric Bentley Eric Bentley, (September 14, 1916 -) born in Bolton, Lancashire, England, became an American citizen in 1948. ... Alfred Kazin (June 5, 1915 – June 5, 1998) was an American writer and literary critic, many of whose writings depicted the immigrant experience in early twentieth century America. ... For the Mortal Kombat character, see Johnny Cage. ... For the fictional character portrayed by Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry film series, see Harry Callahan (character). ... Portrait taken in 1972 Robert Creeley (May 21, 1926 - March 30, 2005) was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. ... Merce Cunningham (born April 16, 1919 in Centralia, Washington, United States) is an American dancer and choreographer. ... Max Dehn (November 13, 1878 – June 27, 1952) was a German mathematician. ... Willem de Koonings Woman V (1952-53), National Gallery of Australia Willem de Kooning (April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was an abstract expressionist painter, born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. ... Elaine Marie de Kooning (12 March 1918 - 1 February 1989), was an abstract expressionist and semi-realistic painter. ... Robert Duncan may refer to: Robert Duncan (1919-1988), U.S. poet Robert Duncan, U.S. physicist Robert Duncan, British TV comedy actor Robert Duncan McNeill, U.S. actor, director and producer Robert Duncan, Episcopal bishop of Pittsburgh This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages... Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller (July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983)[1] was an American visionary, designer, architect, poet, author, and inventor. ... Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (May 18, 1883 – July 5, 1969) was a German architect and founder of Bauhaus. ... Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 - February 2, 2003) was an American composer. ... Franz Klines Painting Number 2, 1954 Franz Kline (May 23, 1910 - May 13, 1962) was an American painter mainly associated with the Abstract Expressionist group which was centered, geographically, around New York, and temporally, in the 1940s and 1950s; but not limited to that setting. ... Self-portrait, 1977; This is typical in terms of color and style in its flattened and abstracted treatment of realistic subject matter. ... Richard Lippold (1915–?) is an American sculptor, known for his geometric constructions using wire as a medium. ... Charles Olson (27 December 1910 – 10 January 1970) was an important 2nd generation American modernist poet who was a crucial link between earlier figures like Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and the New American poets, a rubric which includes the New York School, the Black Mountain School, the Beat... Ben Shahn (September 12, 1898 - March 14, 1969) was a Lithuanian-born American artist, muralist, social activist, photographer and teacher. ... Aaron Siskind (1903-1991) was an American abstract expressionist photographer. ... Jack Tworkov (1900 – 1982) was born in Biala, Poland and immigrated to the United States when he was thirteen. ... Robert Motherwell, 1971 Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American abstract expressionist painter and printmaker. ...

Guest lecturers included Albert Einstein, Clement Greenberg, Bernard Rudofsky, Richard Lippold and William Carlos Williams. “Einstein” redirects here. ... Clement Greenberg (January 16, 1909 - May 7, 1994) was an influential American art critic closely associated with the abstract art movement in the United States. ... Bernard Rudofsky (April 13 1905 - 1988) was an Austrian-born American writer, architect, collector, teacher, designer, and social historian. ... Richard Lippold (1915–?) is an American sculptor, known for his geometric constructions using wire as a medium. ... William Carlos Williams Dr. William Carlos Williams (sometimes known as WCW) (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963), was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. ...

Ceramic artists Peter Voulkos and Robert C. Turner taught there as well. Peter Voulkos (January 29, 1924 – 2002) popular name of Panagiotis Voulkos, was an American artist of Greek descent. ... Robert Chapman Turner (1913 - 2005) was an American potter known for his functional pottery, sculptural vessels and inspired teaching. ...

Notable alumni

• Ruth Asawa
• Fielding Dawson
• Arthur Penn
• Charles Perrow
• Michael Rumaker
• Robert Rauschenberg
• Dorothea Rockburne
• Susan Weil
• John Chamberlain
• Ray Johnson
• Kenneth Noland
• Oli Sihvonen
• Joel Oppenheimer
• Jonathan Williams
• Robert De Niro, Sr.
• Cy Twombly
• Basil King
• Nicholas Cernovich
• Lyle Bongé
• Claude Stoller
• Kenneth Snelson

The college ran summer institutes from 1944 till its closing in 1956. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Arthur Hiller Penn (born September 27, 1922 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a film director and producer. ... Charles Perrow is a noted organizational theorist and sociologist for some time on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh and recently at Yale University. ... Michael Rumaker is an American author (born March 5, 1932 in Philadelphia, PA), to Michael Joseph and Winifred Marvel Rumaker. ... Rauschenberg redirects here. ... Dorothea Rockburne (born c. ... Susan Weil (born in 1930 in New York) is an artist best known for her experimental three-dimentional paintings, which combine figurative illustration with explorations of movement and space. ... John Angus Chamberlain (born April 16, 1927) is an American sculptor. ... Raymond Edward Johnson (1927 - 1995) was an important post-Surrealism, pre-Pop collage artist. ... Kenneth Noland (born April 10, 1924) is an American painter. ... Joel Oppenheimer (1930-1988) was an American poet associated with both the Black Mountain poets and the New York school. ... Jonathan Williams (born 1929) is an American poet, publisher, essayist, and photographer. ... Robert Mario De Niro, Sr. ... Leda and The Swan 1962. ... Needle Tower by Kenneth Snelson (1968) Needle Tower II by Kenneth Snelson (1969) Kenneth Snelson (born June 29, 1927) is a contemporary sculptor and photographer. ...

Black Mountain poets

Various avant-garde poets (subsequently known as the Black Mountain poets) were drawn to the school through the years, most notably Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Denise Levertov, Jonathan Williams, Ed Dorn and Robert Creeley. Creeley was hired to teach and to edit the Black Mountain Review in 1955, and when he left two years later for San Francisco, he became the link between the Black Mountain poets and the poets of the San Francisco Renaissance. Through Allen Ginsberg, a link with the Beat generation writers of Greenwich Village was initiated. The Black Mountain poets, sometimes called the Projectivist poets, were a group of mid 20th century American avant-garde or postmodern poets centered around Black Mountain College. ... Charles Olson (27 December 1910 – 10 January 1970) was an important 2nd generation American modernist poet who was a crucial link between earlier figures like Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and the New American poets, a rubric which includes the New York School, the Black Mountain School, the Beat... Robert Duncan (January 7, 1919 – February 3, 1988), was an American poet associated with the Black Mountain poets and the beat generation. ... Denise Levertov Denise Levertov (October 24, 1923–December 20, 1997) was a British-born American poet. ... The name Jonathan Williams can refer to a number of people: Jonathan Williams, the engineer Jonathan Williams, the architect Jonathan Williams, the Formula 1 driver Jonathan Williams, the current keyboardist of the Pat McGee Band Jonathan Williams, the UK-based composer and conductor of music for video games Jonathan Williams... Edward Dorn (1929-1999) was a United States poet who was associated with the Black Mountain poets. ... Portrait taken in 1972 Robert Creeley (May 21, 1926 - March 30, 2005) was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. ... The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range of poetic activity centred around that city and which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetic avant-garde. ... Irwin Allen Ginsberg (IPA: ) (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet. ... Beats redirects here. ... This article is about Greenwich Village in New York City. ...

Further reading

• Harris, Mary Emma (2002). The Arts at Black Mountain College. The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-58212-4. 

• Katz, Vincent (ed.) (2003). Black Mountain College: Experiment in Art. The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-60071-2. 

• Lane, Marvin (ed.) (c1990). Black Mountain College: Sprouted Seeds: an Anthology of Personal Accounts. University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-0-870-49663-9. 

• Duberman, Martin (c1993). Black Mountain An Exploration in Community. W.W. Norton. ISBN 0393309533. 

MIT Press Books The MIT Press is a university publisher affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... MIT Press Books The MIT Press is a university publisher affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... The University of Tennessee Press (or UT Press), founded in 1940, is a university press that is part of the University of Tennessee. ... W. W. Norton & Company is an American book publishing company. ...

External links

• Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center
• The Black Mountain College Project
• Black Mountain College: Collections in the North Carolina State Archives
• Fully Awake: Black Mountain College Documentary the first and only documentary solely on Black Mountain College. The story of BMC is weaved through interviews with students, professors and modern scholars with archival footage and photographs.
• Honoring the Mind's Eye article on Hazel Larsen Archer, a photographer who documented her years at the college in the 1940s and early '50s
• Bauhaus in America a documentary about the influence of the Bauhaus on America, including a segment on Black Mountain College with Anni Albers, Ted and Bobbi Dreier, et alia. produced and directed by Judith Pearlman, Cliofilm.
• Black Mountain College Celebration 75th Anniversary of Black Mountain College
• Finding Aid for the Black Mountain College Collection at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
• Finding Aid for Black Mountain College Publications at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
• Asheville, North Carolina, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary