Black Mountain College (Black Mountain, N.C.)

Black Mountain College was founded in 1933 by a group of nonconformist faculty and students from Rollins College in Florida. Headed by John Andrew Rice, they established their experimental college and community near Black Mountain, NC. Artists and writers from all over the country were attracted to Black Mountain and the college became a nurturing ground for some of the best talents of the twentieth century. Among its faculty and students were Josef Albers, Robert Rauschenberg, Willem de Kooning, John Cage, Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, and Robert Creeley. Black Mountain College closed in 1956 due to lack of funding, but by then it had secured a place in American cultural history as an important community of artists and intellectuals.

Organized in 1933 based on John Rice's educational theories which combined the liberal arts with the fine arts; communal living, small and informal class setting, continuation of class discussions into the dining room and evening hours, lack of grades, but rigorous examination of the student before certification that course work had been completed were hallmarks of the educational experience at Black Mountain.

Black Mountain College was founded in 1933 by a group of nonconformist faculty and students from Rollins College in Florida. Headed by John Andrew Rice, they established their experimental college and community near Black Mountain, N.C. Among its faculty and students were Josef Albers, Robert Rauschenberg, Willem de Kooning, John Cage, Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, and Robert Creeley. Black Mountain College closed in 1956 due to lack of funding.

Founded in 1933; closed in 1956.