University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dept. of Art.

The University of North Carolina's Department of Art was established in 1936 through the efforts of Mrs. Katherine Pendleton Arrington and the North Carolina Art Society. With funding from the Works Progress Administration and donations from the Art Society membership, Person Hall was renovated and, on 15 January 1937, rededicated as the Person Hall Art Gallery. Under its first chairman, Russell T. Smith, the department consolidated the university's holdings of paintings, sculpture, prints, architectural samples, and other art objects as well as published works on art.

The curriculum, originally limited to art history, was considered a novelty during the early years and soon suffered under the strains of overcrowding and limited finances. Nevertheless, the department gained a wide reputation for its academic instruction, especially after it added instruction in studio art. It maintained its dual concentration on art history and studio art, and expansion in both curricula and staff occurred under the subsequent chairman, John V. Allcott (1939-1957).

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