Luther Bean Museum
Cloyde Snook and Paul Moloney Display
The Luther Bean Museum current displays include ceramics by Cloyde Snook, emeritus professor of art, and black-and-white photographs by Paul Moloney, an internationally known, award-winning photojournalist.
Cloyde Snook Ceramics
Cloyde Snook enjoys the challenge of defying gravity as he works with a block of clay to shape an object to his vision.
The current selection of
work presents highlights of Snook's craftsmanship in ceramics over the course of
his career. The artist's superior skill in diverse techniques shapes each of
his works.
Snook retired in 1992 after teaching at Adams State for 22 years. He
received his bachelor's degree at Chadron State in 1961, and he completed a master's
in art at the University of Iowa, and an MFA at the University of New Mexico.
Paul Moloney Photographs
Paul Moloney has always wondered about life, marveled at and admired the beauty God has granted the world, and wandered, roamed, roved with his cameras.
In 1989, George and Ketha Woodard donated a collection of Moloney's photographs to the Luther Bean Museum. The images capture Moloney's love for his native San Luis Valley. The photographs selected for this display depict the rural, natural beauty of the valley as well as the people who call it home.
Luther Bean Museum Mission Statement:
"In partnership with the college and valley communities, the Luther Bean Museum seeks to preserve, enhance, and promote the study of the diverse culture and history of the San Luis Valley and Adams State."
Luther Bean Museum Collection:
The museum's permanent collections represent largely regional and local arts and historical objects. On view are: Native American pottery including pots by Maria "Marie" and Julian Martinez and from the Acoma and Santo Domingo Pueblos; Rio Grande weavings, including a work by Eppie Archuleta; paintings and works on paper by Stephen Quiller, Woody Crumbo and William Moyers; bronzes by William Moyers (1939 ASU Alumnus); and a bronze by Allan Houser. We have recently added a display on Major Lafayette Head, Colorado's first lieutenant governor, U.S. Indian agent, and early settler of Conejos County.
Patrons of Adams State, Beryl and Charles Woodard donated furniture, porcelain, decorative arts, santos (retables and bultos), and Asian ivory and stone carvings from their estate that have enriched and broadened the collections.
A display of items featuring former Colorado Governor and Adams State University's founder William H. "Billy" Adams is also on view.
