Photo (taken 1/12/2016) of a plaque on WSU campus in Pullman

Plaza will be named for George Laisner

Spokane Daily Chronicle - Jan 9, 1980

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1338&dat=19800109&id=d0FYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KvkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7173,2366986&hl=en

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Biography George Laisner

http://www.askart.com/artist/George_Alois_Ferdinand_Laisner/105079/George_Alois_Ferdinand_Laisner.aspx

Born in Czechoslovakia on May 5, 1914. Laisner studied at the University of Chicago and AIC. Most of his career was spent in Pullman, WA as a professor at the state college. He died there in 1984. Exh: San Francisco Art Association, 1930s, 1940s; Seattle Museum, 1937, 1939; GGIE, 1939; SFMA, 1939, 1943, 1948; Oakland Art Gallery, 1940, 1947. In: Seattle Museum; San Francisco Art Association.

Source: Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
Who's Who in American Art 1940-62; Social Security Death Index (1940-2002).

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George Laisner Sculpture Plaza was dedicated Sept. 27, 1980

https://news.wsu.edu/2001/10/04/dedication-set-oct-9-for-a%C2%80%C2%98portala%C2%80%C2%99-art-project-by-buster-simpson

George Laisner Sculpture Plaza was “dedicated Sept. 27, 1980, to honor George Laisner, well-known WSU artist and teacher. Laisner, who died in 1984, spent nearly 40 years on the WSU fine arts faculty, influenced his students and won awards for his sculptures and paintings. Until “Portal,” the plaza included pieces by at least two WSU graduates, both former Laisner students:

“—A cast concrete sculpture with intertwined pieces influenced by Mayan art. By Harold Balasz in Spokane, it was given in 1979 by the WSU Friends of the Museum of Art. The sculpture remains in the plaza area.

“—Fra Mobadalen, a polished bronze sculpture by Norman Taylor of Seattle. Influenced by a trip to Norway, it is one of a series of Taylor sculptures and drawings. It is now located in a plaza next to Neill Hall on campus.”