Florence Ellen Ware (1891-1972) was born on May 6, 1891, in Salt Lake City, Utah to Jennie M. Hartley and Walter E. Ware. Florence Ware was the only child of a successful architect. She was educated in music, art, and ballet from private tutors. From an early age she exhibited artistic skill. As an adult, Ware devoted her life to art training, producing, teaching, and exhibiting. Ware worked in many areas of art, including painting, illustration, costume design, interior design, and mural painting. Ware attended the University of Utah, graduating at age 22. She then studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, graduating with high honors and first in her art class. From there, she moved to California where she studied and painted. Her instructors included J.T. Harwood, Edwin Evans, Charles Hawthorne, and Anna Hills.
After an 18-month tour of Europe and the Middle East in 1928, Ware returned to Utah and began teaching at the University of Utah. In 1940, Ware served as the first president of the Association of Utah Artists. She also founded Ogden's palette club and Utah's "Pageant of the Arts" in American Fork, Utah. She is known for the murals at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus, which were sponsored by the Works Project Administration (WPA) depict the history of the arts. Ware was also interested in painting nature, particularly flowers, as well as human subjects. Ware's work was recognized with local awards: the Purchase Prize, Utah Art Institution (1928) and an honorary at the Springville Museum of Art (1931). She never married, and died in Salt Lake City, Utah, on November 11, 1971, at the age of 80. (Biography adapted from
The Florence Ellen Ware photograph collection consists of 4 oversized boxes containing 155 items. Box 1 contains photograph portraits of Ware and associates, as well as photographs of paintings. Boxes 2-4 contain 3 photograph albums that are made of leather with embossed images on the covers, perhaps created by Ware; one album is empty, the other two contain postcards presumably collected by Ware during travels in the American West. The collection spans 1910 to 1945.
Arranged by subject.
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The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's
Permission to publish material from the Florence Ellen Ware photograph collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator.
Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Donated by Richard Romney Clawson in 2005.
Donated by William C. Seifrit in 2006.
Purchased from Ken Sanders in 2006.
Processed by Special Collections staff.
See also the