Patricia Stanley Cunningham

California Landscape , Modernist Woman Artist, WPA Painter, AIC, Carmel

Circa 1970

Patricia Stanley Cunningham first studied at the University of California, Berkeley and subsequently, under Hans Hofmann in Munich and with André Lhote in Paris. While in Paris in 1930, she married a classmate from UC, John Cunningham. Settling on the Monterey Peninsula after returning from Europe, Cunningham joined the Carmel Art Institute, the Southwest Artists and the Society of Western Artists. She was the first woman to serve as president of the Carmel Art Association. Cunningham was both a teacher at Mills College in Oakland and the University of California, Berkeley as well as a muralist and easel painter for the WPA Federal Art Project. In 1959, the Cunninghams founded the local chapter of the American Federation of Arts, which became the Museum of Monterey. Cunningham exhibited widely and with success, including at the “1940 Golden Gate International Exposition”, Gump's Gallery (San Francisco), Salt Lake City Museum, Carmel Art Association and Portland Art Museum (Oregon) among others. Her work can be found in collections throughout the country, including the Smithsonian, the Museum of Monterey, Art Institute of Chicago and the Spencer Museum of Art.