Barney Rudolph "Rudy" Autio Interview, July 9, 1991

Barney “Rudy” Autio describes coming to the University of Montana (UM) in 1957 after serving as the director of the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana. He talks about starting the UM ceramics program where he taught until 1984. Autio mentions some of the colleagues he admired including Leslie Fiedler, Richard Hugo, K. Ross Toole, and Clancy Gordon. He recalls the student protests at the University during the 1960s and early ‘70s, and the shift in student attitudes in the 1980s when students tired of the conflict and became increasingly concerned with making a living. Autio explains how he came to sculpt the bronze grizzly bear statue situated at the foot of the Oval, which he considers a curiosity instead of art. He notes that his favorite time at UM was the 1970s when the ceramics program was flourishing. Autio also recalls outstanding Art Department faculty members including Walter Hook and Aden Arnold.