Black Mountain College

Educator John Andrew Rice founded Black Mountain College in 1933. Disillusioned with traditional academia, Rice created a learning environment centered around progressive education, artistic exploration, and communal living. His admiration for John Dewey attracted thinkers from many fields of study and institutions, including Josef Albers and Walter Gropius from Bauhaus. The emphasis on collaboration and interdisciplinary research nurtured a vibrant intellectual environment. Even though the university closed in 1956, its alumni became major contributors to the avant-garde movement.