Charlotte Russell Partridge and the Layton School of Art

As it awarded Charlotte Russell Partridge a distinguished service award in 1965, the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Institute of Architects cited her for "a lifetime of activity in promoting the cause of art." Foremost among her accomplishments was establishment of the Layton School of Art to prepare students for professional art-related careers in industry.

In 1914, Charlotte came to the Milwaukee-Downer College as a faculty member and later became head of the Fine Arts Department. She blew fresh air into a tired art curriculum and initiated one of the first occupational therapy courses in the country. Charlotte taught art as self-expression, a new concept in art education. She founded the Layton School of Art with her partner Miriam Frink in August 1920 through her involvement with the Layton Art Gallery. The Layton School of Art prospered and in 1951, with enrollment at 1,100 students, the school moved into its own building on Prospect Avenue. Then, in a 1954 meeting, the Layton Board of Trustees voted to "retire" Partridge and Frink. The Board's position was that the work was too exhausting for them, but Partridge was told the school should be directed by a man.

Partridge continued to be active in the worlds of art and arts education in Wisconsin until her death in 1975.

Charlotte Partridge and communication:

Charlotte Partridge changed art education by teaching art as self-expression. How does something purely visual communicate? How do we understand about the artist through his or her work?

Partridge struggled as a working woman and artist in the 1950s. Have women's place in the art world changed since then?

In the Archives: The main collection of materials dealing with the life and career of Charlotte Partridge contains personal papers of both her and her partner Miriam Frink, correspondence, information on the Layton School and Layton Gallery as well as information on her work with federal arts programs. There is also a rich collection of visual materials to be found in the Charlotte Russell Partridge Visual Materials Collection and even more material in the Layton School of Art and Design Records and Photographs collections.