Olive Susanna DeLuce

As the daughter of prolific painter and illustrator Percival DeLuce, Olive Susanna DeLuce once stated that she “was brought up knowing art from the cradle” (Maryville Daily Forum, May 18, 1950). Aside from learning  how to paint from her father, DeLuce studied under many other artists and at various art schools worldwide throughout her artistic career, although art education was always at the center of her work. 

In 1912 she received “A Special Diploma in Education” from Columbia University in New York, which led to substitute work and a brief teaching stint at the Barnard School for Girls. In 1914, after receiving her bachelor’s degree in both education and science from Columbia, she continued her early teaching career as an instructor of fine art at Ohio University.

In 1915, DeLuce relocated to Maryville, Missouri, where she taught at Fifth District Normal School, now known as Northwest Missouri State University, while continuing with her own education at Columbia University. In 1924, she received her master's of art degree and stayed on at Northwest Missouri State, eventually becoming chairman of the Fine Arts Department until her retirement in 1958.

She also founded one of the University’s first organizations, the Art Club, as well as the system of establishing art works as senior class gifts. She continued to foster her own artistic career over the years, attending various art centers in Paris and often traveling to the southwestern regions of the United States to paint.

DeLuce lectured on a wide range of topics that revolved around art history and art education and published many articles over her teaching career. She was also a member of several local artist and education organizations and often served in leadership roles on many of the committees.

As the head of the Art Education Commission of the American Federation of Art, she gave a compelling talk at its annual meeting in 1929. Her speech called for greater recognition of art in colleges and universities, suggesting that art courses become a requirement in higher education. It was so well-received that she was asked to speak on the same topic again in Washington, D.C.

In August 1965, it was announced that Northwest Missouri State University's new fine arts space would be named in her honor. It was officially dedicated as the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building in the fall of that same year. The gallery in the building hosted many retrospective exhibitions of her work. After her death in 1970, the college was gifted with a large collection of her father’s works, which are now housed in the same building.