October 7, 2016
The Mary Baker Emerick Scholarship was established to ensure Montana Western art students would have access to a quality fine arts education.
Mary Baker Emerick served as an art professor at the Montana State Normal School and later Western Montana College (now the University of Montana Western) from 1925 to 1968.
She received her education from the Montana State Normal College, University of Washington and Teachers College, Columbia University.
During her tenure at Montana Western, Emerick helped students develop an art club and later founded a chapter of Kappa Pi Omicron, a national fine arts fraternity. This group initiated art shows, guest speakers and field trips. Under her guidance, a student gift shop was started to generate art scholarships.
Upon her retirement, she was awarded professor of art emeritus.
When she passed away in 1981, trusts totalling over $800,00 were willed to Montana Western from the Emerick’s estate. One of the trusts was designated for annual art student scholarships and others were directed toward books and equipment to advance campus art programs.
Emerick’s generous gift is the largest donation ever given to the university.
All Montana Western art students are eligible to receive the MBE Scholarship. Scholarship applications are due January 1. Applications received after that date will be considered for freshman on a first-come first-serve basis as long as scholarship monies are still available. For more information about the scholarship please contact Montana Western’s Admissions Office at [email protected] or 1-877-683-7331.
