James Houston McConnell
James Houston McConnell (American, 1914-1988) collection available at the Michigan Art Gallery.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1914, McConnell received his BA from Denison University in 1936. He went on to attend the University of Iowa for his MFA in 1941, where he studied with Grant Wood, Emil Ganso and Fletcher Martin. He taught at the Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri before joining the faculty at Michigan State University in 1945.
An expert in serigraphy, McConnell established the first formal classes in silkscreen at MSU. His sculptures and murals can be seen around the MSU campus, the Stoddard Building and City Hall in Lansing.