This is a collection of materials related to the life and work of Ruth Armer, a San Francisco based artist who was a student at the California School of Fine Arts (later known as the San Francisco Art Institute) and went on to teach at the school and serve on its Board of Trustees. This is an eclectic collection with ephemera from various stages of her life. It includes her transcripts from her time as a student at the California School of Fine Arts, receipts and letters pertaining to the business side of her art, photographs, a draft of a children’s story she wrote, sketches and artwork by herself and other artists, exhibition catalogs, clippings, and materials related to her death and subsequent bequest to the San Francisco Art Institute. Much of the material is undated, but the earliest dated item comes from 1912 and the latest from 1979.

Ruth Armer (1896-1977) was born and raised in San Francisco. In 1914, at the age of seventeen she became a student at the San Francisco Institute of Art’s California School of Design (later known as the San Francisco Art Institute). Later, she moved to New York to join the Art Students League and also took classes at Parsons School of Design. She began her artistic career painting landscapes. Her interest was not in literal reproductions of a scene, but in the relationships between objects and the sensations aroused: “Feelings that nature pressed upon me were my theme” (from her chapter in Art and Artist, 1956, University of California Press). She also painted portraits and abstract works, and was a lithographer. Her art was influenced by her experience living in California, and her subject matter included the California desert and cityscapes of San Francisco. She was also inspired by music, finding that certain composers evoked certain images and feelings, which she painted. Her career as an exhibiting artist spanned from 1922 to 1977. From 1933-1940 Ruth Armer joined the faculty of the California School of Fine Arts. She taught drawing, painting, design, and children’s Saturday classes. She went on to serve on the Board of Trustees from 1945-1951, 1955-1956, 1960-1967, and 1969-1972. In June 1977 she was elected as an Honorary Trustee in recognition of her many years of service to the school. She was also active with the San Francisco Society of Women Artists during the 1940s and 1950s, serving as a director from 1950-1952 and frequently exhibiting in their annual show. Upon her death in August 1977, she left a substantial bequest to the San Francisco Art Institute; at the time, it was the largest bequest ever received by the school and was slated to be used to fund student scholarships.

One document box (containing 11 folders), approximately 0.35 linear feet.

This collection is open for research use.