Margaret Stites (1910-2003)Margaret Adell Stites was born on November 8, 1910. She began drawing as a child, and never thought of doing anything else. She trained under Charles Umlauf at the University of Texas in Austin. Stites pioneered the art program at Angelo State University in the late 1940’s. She became an art professor at San Angelo College (now Angelo State University), and taught life drawing and elementary design from 1948-1952. She left to attend graduate school at Cranbrook Academy of Art. In 1958 she received the Louise C. Tiffany grant, allowing her to study in Europe. Stites backpacked around Europe for a while before a family illness brought her back to America. She had a solo exhibition at SAMFA in 2003 when she was rediscovered through a curious turn of events. Just a few days after her solo exhibition opened, Stites passed away on October 2, 2003 at the age of 92. Fortunately she did get to see her exhibit before passing, and was greeted by many former students and colleagues at the opening. Angelo State University now has a memorial scholarship named after her, and it’s only given to the most dedicated students who take over 30 hours of art credit. B: Texas. D: San Angelo.Painter, printmaker, sculptor, teacher.San Angelo. Studied: University of Texas, Austin (B.F.A., 1944); Charles Umlauf; Xavier Gonzalez; Art Institute of Chicago (1952); Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (M.F.A., 1954). Member: San Angelo Art Club; Texas Fine Arts Association; Art Association of New Orleans. Exhibitions: Texas General/Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, 1947, Slender Girl (redwood), 1954, Carol (terra cotta), 1955, Brahma (terra cotta); San Angelo General, 1952, (prize); Helen King Kendall Gallery, san Angelo joint with Robert L. Lancaster); National Religious Art Exhibition, Cranbrook Academy of Art, 1966; The Passionate Eye of Margaret Stites: Painting, Drawing and Sculpture, works from 1942-1990, Angelo State University,2003. Collections: San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, Portrait-The Artist's Nephews; Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston. Stites headed the art department of San Angelo College (1948- 1952). She was awarded a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant for study in Greece and Italy (1956-1958). Sources: Texas Fine Arts Association Records; The Dallas Morning News, March 4, 1959. Roper V3, p. 147-148; San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.