The work of Jim Jones is the cornerstone of our collections at SUU. Jim Jones has lived in Southern Utah for nearly all of his life and has dedicated himself to the southwestern landscape. After discovering that SUU had made plans to erect a Museum, Jim (fondly called Jimmie) promised one landscape to help raise funds for the museum. To thank him for the gesture, we proposed an exhibit to feature his most recent work. By this time, he was over 70 years old and was seriously thinking of retiring from painting. After the Braithwaite suggested the exhibit to Jimmie, he decided to give not one... but fourteen new landscapes as well as all of his possessions, including his home, upon his death. In a letter promising the completion of the art he indicated that these paintings would be his "life's thesis." The fourteen pieces were completed on time, however, Jimmie's illness prevented him from ever seeing them exhibited for himself. Three months later, on the final week of the exhibit Jimmie passed away.
The exhibit was hung in what we refer to as "heroic style" meaning 8 inches above the traditional 60 inch eye mark causing most patrons to crane their neck upwards. The size of Jimmie's work ranged from 36 x 48 inches to 40 x 192 inches and hanging them in heroic style increased the grandeur of these large paintings. Lighting was kept as low as possible; both rooms were exceptionally dark with the hung pieces of art as the exception. There was no way that any patron could concentrate on anything else.
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