Carrie Ellen Montgomery (1878-1956) -- student

Born in Rockford, Illinois in 1878, Carrie Ellen Montgomery gained her art training with studies at the Art Institute of Chicago, private classes in Estes Park, Colorado, and at the Stone City art colony (1932-33), having Grant Wood and Adrian Dornbush as faculty advisors. As a student, Montgomery maintained a personal diary of her time at the art colony, noting the blistering heat, consultations with Wood on her harvest picture for advanced painting class, and her struggle to secure funds to attend the colony. While at Chicago's Art Institute, Montgomery borrowed a family member's camera and took photographs of Institute students, later selling those images to finance a new Primo camera, one requiring photo plates. Montgomery handled her own developing and printing; she composed a volume titled "Nature Streams and Woodland Ways" (with her brother, Howard C. Atwood) reflecting scenes in Illinois and North Carolina that were taken from 1897-1901. Throughout her career, Montgomery was known for the illusion of depth created in her landscapes, as well as her use of color.

A painter in the realist style, Montgomery exhibited frequently at the Iowa Art Salon (1931-1935) and had two works featured in touring, American Federation of Arts collections titled "Iowa Speaks" and "Old Timer," an image composed near Kenwood, Iowa. She received the 1937 Purchase Prize award from the federated clubs' Sioux City, Iowa exhibit for her painting, "Spring Willows." A member of the Cedar Rapids Art Association, Montgomery was also featured in several exhibits hosted by the Iowa Federation of Women's Clubs (1932-1934). The culmination of her eastern Iowa efforts occurred with a one-man show of twenty-two paintings at the Little Gallery in Cedar Rapids, organized by Edward Rowan (1932). Other significant exhibits occurred in Waterloo (IA), Dubuque (IA), and Rockford (IL); as an artist, Montgomery's reputation was secured in her quality, still-life oil paintings that found their subjects from her extensive, American travels.

The wife of the Cedar Rapids, Presbyterian minister, the Reverend William A. Montgomery (W.A.), and mother to five children, Montgomery managed to pursue her art talents quite adeptly, offering lectures to clubs and public painting demonstrations. The family resided in Cedar Rapids for thirty-six years, settling there when four of the children attended Coe College. Reverend Montgomery served Westminster Presbyterian Church, Daniels Park Presbyterian Church, and churches in the small Iowa communities of Aredale, Leon, West Branch, and Monticello. After her husband retired from the ministry in 1937, the couple began their wide travels across America, living in Arizona for a number of years. There, Reverend Montgomery perfected the art of finishing cactus wood and using the material to frame her paintings. The couple also had extended stays in Florida, ones that produced many images of beaches, weeping willows, and boating communities.

In 1948, Montgomery travelled to West Branch, Iowa, where she painted President Herbert Hoover's birthplace. The image was displayed during the former president's visit to the site on his birthday in August of that year. By 1950, Montgomery counted roughly 400 paintings as her lifetime output and continued avidly creating until the time of her death in 1956. She is buried in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Excerpts from Carrie E. Montgomery's personal diary recounting her time at the Stone City art colony are available here. Document requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.