Although much of her well-known artwork stems from her time in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area had a great influence on Mary Blair, serving as bookends for her life. Much of her early life and her last years were lived in cities around the Bay. Check out these five cities that had an impact on Blair’s flair.
Morgan Hill: Born in McAlester, Oklahoma, Mary Browne Robinson and her family moved several times before settling in Morgan Hill, California in the early 1920s. Blair spent most of her childhood in Morgan Hill—she attended elementary school and graduated from Live Oak Union High School in 1929.
San Jose: After graduating from high school, Mary attended San Jose State College from 1929 to 1931. She majored in Fine Arts, and planned to become an art instructor. Mary developed her skills by painting portraits of friends and faculty members and exhibiting in art shows and conventions. Due to her work at San Jose State College, Mary was offered a scholarship to the Chouinard School of Art in Los Angeles.
Fresno: During college, Mary attended the seventh annual convention of the Pacific Art Association in Fresno to exhibit her artwork. Her showing was praised in the San Jose Mercury Herald newspaper.
Soquel: After living and working in Southern California and on the East Coast, Mary and Lee Blair moved to this Santa Cruz County town in the late 1960s. Blair’s artwork during this time consisted of small, personal pieces. Mary Blair lived in Soquel until her passing in 1978.
San Francisco: Blair’s Bay Area upbringing continued to influence her in Southern California, as shown by one of her watercolor pieces from the 1930s: San Francisco Nights (this can be seen on page 52 in the exhibition catalogue). In her last seven years, Blair created smaller art pieces in Soquel and had expressed, "when there are enough of them, I will have an exhibition possibly in San Francisco." Unfortunately, Blair passed before this could come to life, but we are so proud to be able to share her artwork our exhibition—MAGIC, COLOR, FLAIR: the world of Mary Blair —presented in a city that she loved.
Join us as we continue to celebrate the magic, color, and flair of Mary Blair in our special exhibition—on view, now for only a handful more days—until September 7!
Nicole Nalty
Former Marketing & Communications Intern
at The Walt Disney Family Museum