A new exhibition titled Laying the Foundation: UNT Art Faculty, 1890-1970, explores the roots of UNT’s visual arts program by looking at works from early faculty members. The exhibition is on display through Feb. 11 at UNT on the Square.

“I have wanted to do something like this for a very long time,” says D. Jack Davis, Professor Emeritus of art who retired this summer after 40 years at UNT, including several years as dean. “We wouldn’t be where we are today had we not had these faculty members building the program.”

Among the artists included are Martha Simkins, who taught at North Texas from 1901 to 1906; Cora Stafford, a legendary figure in the program who taught from 1921 to 1964; Carlos Merida, the world-renowned Guatemalan painter; and Gyorgy Kepes, an experimental photographer from Germany’s Bauhaus.