| CIAA
to honor founding members
In anticipation of Central Idaho Art Association’s (CIAA) 50th Spring Show, May 4, 5, 6, CIAA celebrates founding member,  Ladd
Arnoti. The 50th Show remains at the Bicentennial Historical Museum and
will feature the art of Founding Members. Ladd Arnoti was Featured Artist
at the very first CIAA Art Show.
Mr. Ladd Arnoti was a founder and advisor in establishing the Central Idaho Art Association in 1968. He instructed many classes to CIAA members, as well as teaching to community and at the College of St. Gertrude. He was a mainstay at fostering the growth of CIAA. He judged many of the shows. Mr. Arnoti, a professional artist, was a native of Pecs, Hungary. At a young age he was singled out to participate in an intensive art study program. In his 2006 Memoirs, Darkness of War, Dawn of Hope, he writes, “I went to a Jesuit school and we had an extremely hard-working, talented art teacher, his name was Father Adamski and he was really some guy. I started working with him from fifth grade on….Father Adamski raised artists. He didn’t just teach. He selected his students to be artists and believed in them.” “The first half of the year we would all do the same things. The second half of the year, he would come back and pick out about 3 or 4 kids out of a class of about 45 and take them out of the rest of the group. He took us back to his art room where he had huge offices and he told us we were going to work three times as hard as we ever worked before. And that’s how it went; art class was two hours from then on and we had to keep up with the rest of our class work. But during those two hours we did nothing but advanced work.” During this schooling, young Ladd received a state award. He says, “This school had one of the most advance art shows, which happened at the end of every school year. All the galleries and art classes in the whole city turned out (Pecs at that time was about 100,000 population). …The Hungarian school superintendent came onstage and commented on how many awards this one school garnered out of all the awards given in the country. Our school was one of the outstanding schools in the whole nation. The award was a gold-leaf book with the names of the winners inside. It was kept on display by the state; we didn’t get to keep it. To me, it really was a big honor.” Later years, he studied art with some of the greatest contemporary artists of Europe. In 1944, Arnoti moved to Munich, Germany there he lived and painted with a colony of artists, many of whom now have work displayed throughout the world. He had enrolled in the Colony of International Artists. By 1950 he was making a good living at his art supporting his wife and three children. Many of Mr. Arnoti’s paintings were in demand in Europe. They can be found in various countries including Poland, Isarel, France, Germany and Hungary. Besides contributing to the community with his art, Mr. Arnoti served three terms as Mayor at Cottonwood, was appointed by Governor John Evans to the Magistrate Commission of the 2nd Judicial District, served as Idaho Finance Chairman for the U.S. Senator Steve Symmes, served as President of the Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce. He was also member of the Lions Club ad Elks Club. He was a successful business owner of Ladd’s Studio (photography) for 41 years, as well as other businesses. He spearheaded city projects to include paving the Airport, water distribution project, development of the Cottonwood Butte Ski Slope, reorganization of the police department, installation of a 911 system. He was a teller of stories and lover of laughter. He was beloved of his family, of the art community and of the whole county! Other founding members will be featured in upcoming weeks. |
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