The History of the

Eagle Rock Art Guild

History of the Eagle Rock Art Guild

In 1948 four Idaho Falls area artists collaborated and organized the Eagle Rock Art Guild. 

The founders; Helen Aupperle, a high school art teacher, accomplished pastel and oil painter; Fred Ochi, a watercolor artist; Suzanne Fonnesbeck, a commercial artist, and a watercolor and ink artist; and Ina Schwartz Oyler, a local junior high school art teacher and talented oil painter, wanted to promote the arts in the Idaho Falls area, to encourage artists and to meet regularly to paint. They sought the help of the Idaho Art Association and nearby colleges.

 Their goals soon included regular art shows for the public to enjoy.

In 1963 the City’s Recreation Director allowed the use of the “Log Hut” in Highland Park to the Guild for a place to meet. The “Log Hut” was officially called the Eagle Rock Art Gallery. The city granted the Guild a long-term lease as long as they sponsored and instructed art classes in conjunction with the Parks and Recreation Summer Program and that the city could have use of the building for elections.

Over 19 years the Guild held numerous one-man shows by Guild members, workshops by renowned artists, a Spring Show and a Holiday Show around Christmas at the Gallery.

In 1991, the city finally condemned the “Log Hut” and tore it down.  The city pledged some help if the Guild raised the money, to build a building and then deeded it back to the city. This building today is The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho, known as TAM.

The Guild today is a travelling “Eagle Rock Museum and Education Center”. Classes and workshops are being planned using multiple locations, and we now sponsor 3 shows, the Spring Art Show, the Riverwalk Art Festival and the Holiday Art and Artisan Show. Volunteer opportunities include Festival of Trees and Dream Night at the Zoo.

*Compiled with thanks to Goldie Hales, MaNell Piccolo, Alice Foster Trumblee, and others who wrote histories of the Eagle Rock Art Guild.

Eagle Rock Art Gallery - Our first home.

The Art Museum of Eastern Idaho

Founders

  • Helen, along with Fred Ochi, Suzanne Fonnesbeck, and Ina Oyler, formed the Eagle Rock Art Guild (originally the Idaho Falls Art Guild) in 1948. She was born on a ranch on Taylor Creek near Idaho Falls. She began the study of art as a child when her family moved to California. Helen received her art education at U.C.L.A, Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles where she studied with Hans Hofman, Alexander Archipinko, Millard Sheets and others while teaching art at Long Beach Poly High School.  She spent a year studying at the Royal Academy in Denmark and Sweden and received her Masters degree from Claremont College. She taught art at the Idaho Falls High School for 13 years. Helen is credited with establishing and maintaining high standards in requirements for exhibitors in the group. Her top priority was no work was to be copied all or in part from other work or from published photographs. On more than one occasion paintings were removed if they were suspect of being copied. Helen worked in pastel and oil, subjects ranging from landscapes, still life, to Native American figures. She and her husband Don built an A-frame home on Park Road where they lived until her death.

  • Fred was born in Watsonville, California and spent some years studying in Japan. He attended high school in Redwood City, California and college at the California College of Arts and Crafts. He also studied with Dong Kingman. He was chief display artist for fifteen years with Fox Theaters. The Ford Foundation named him as one of the top ten watercolorists in the country and featured him in the Ford Times magazine. Fred was a well known local sign painter all of his life, first in a tiny second floor workshop on Park Avenue in downtown Idaho Falls.  Later, after his business was established, he built Fred's Sign Shop on Cliff Street. Fred is known regionally for his unique style of watercolor painting. He was an avid outdoor painter, frequently seen along the roads painting barns and other local scenes. Fred was a strong supporter of the Guild and past President, commonly painting with the group at every session. Fred was dynamic, enthusiastic about life, his art, and his family.

  • Ina was born on a farm near Idaho Falls and attended schools in Milo and Ammon.  She studied art at Idaho State and U.S.A.C. in Logan, Utah. She attended workshops in the Stanley Basin with art professors from the University of Idaho. Ina spent summer months in Jackson, Wyoming studying with Conrad Schwiering.  She taught school for a few years during the 1940's.  An oil painter most known for her Teton Mountain paintings, she has also painted in pastels and watercolor. Ina taught adult art workshops in the region for many years, primarily outdoor landscape painting.  She and her husband Bob, have traveled extensively and for the past several years, spend winter months in New Mexico.

  • Suzanne was born in Maple Shade, New Jersey to French parents. She and the family move d to France when she was six years old. She attended the Ecole d' Arte in Paris and worked as a fashion illustrator and commercial artist. When the German army invaded France in World War TI, Suzanne and her sister joined the underground as couriers. After the war, she came to Idaho Falls and worked in a local department store until she married Tillman Fonnesbeck in 1947. Her illustrations were frequently used by the Bon Marche in their newspaper advertising. In 1948 at the urging of Helen Aupperle, she joined the new art group, and became the first President of the Idaho Falls Art Guild.  Until 1998, Suzanne was part of Marilyn Hansen's figure drawing group for weekly paint sessions. When she retired, Suzanne lived with one of her daughters.

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