Alice Merrill Horne Establishes the Utah Arts Council, 1899:
In 1898 Alice Merrill Horne won a seat in the Utah House of Representatives, the only woman serving in that capacity that year.  Her main objective centered on gaining public support for the arts.  Working closely with Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, the only woman in the Utah State Senate, Horne guided her "Art Bill" through the legislature; it was signed into law in 1899.  Upon signing the legislation, Governor Heber M. Wells commented, "This Art Bill makes Utah the first state in the Union to provide a state institution for the encouragement of the fine arts."

The "Utah Arts Institute" was born, later becoming the Utah Arts Council (Utah Division of Fine Arts).  Representative Horne provided assistance for many of the fine arts.  She later stated: "It has been sweet work to do something for Utah artists. Only one thing is bigger than pictures – that is the artists who make them. They cannot paint if they cannot eat."

Top: H.L.A. Culmer, Afternoon Mood
Middle: Gordan Cope, Indian Homestead, Fort Duchesne
Middle: H.L.A. Culmer, Monument Valley
Bottom: James T. Harwood, Scene in Liberty Park, watercolor on tinted paper – part of the Alice Art Collection. (Utah Arts Council)

In 1899, House Bill 124 created the State Institute of Art, later becoming the Division of Fine Arts.  This is the first page of the bill passed by the Legislature.  (Utah State Archives)