Painting of Mary Lois Wheatley by Alvin Gittins (1949).

WRITTEN BY EMERI FETZER

For the University of Utah, a brand-new gallery space is on its way.

Long awaited and breathlessly anticipated, the new Alvin Gittins Gallery will be more than just a space where the campus community can contemplate diverse student exhibitions professionally displayed, it will provide a quiet place to gather, a space to spark inspiration and focus, a setting for enhanced and lifelong learning.

Made possible largely by a landmark gift from Jack and Mary Lois Wheatley, the gallery renovation reflects the couple’s inherent conviction of the value of investing in students, and in the beautification of the places where they spend their time.

“Early on, my dad got this feeling that the best way to invest in society is to invest in education for young people. He felt like helping launch people through a broad and meaningful education would just lift up society, and lift up families,” son Charles Wheatley said.

In a vast philanthropic legacy, the Wheatley’s generous contributions have fortified the arts in the state of Utah, beautified campuses from Brigham Young University to Stanford University, supported student growth through scholarships, and beyond.

The gallery project at the U honors a personal history —the students who will soon benefit from the space are not that unlike Mary Lois Wheatley herself, years ago.

A painter from an early age, Mary Lois studied art in the Department of Art & Art History and graduated in 1948 with an enduring passion for portraiture nurtured by Professor Alvin Gittins, whom she studied under.

Alvin Gittins, head of the Department of Art and Art History from 1956 to 1962, was an English-born artist who distinguished himself as one of the finest portrait artists in the country. He instilled in his students the value of capturing not only a subject’s likeness, but their spirit and personality.

Mary Lois’s artistic drive was further fueled by her time at the U, sending her to Manhattan to study at the prestigious Art Students League of New York. It was there that she met Jack, an aspiring engineer studying at West Point Military Academy.

The combination of quite opposite interests just made for an electric affect. “I think my dad would say that while he didn’t have a large exposure to the arts growing up, my mom opened up that world for him. It influenced his career, adding beauty and landscaping to his building projects. He wouldn’t have had that perspective otherwise.”

Jack and Mary Lois Wheatley in Carmel.

After Jack served in the Korean War, the two started their life together back out west. When they settled in Palo Alto, Jack made a tremendous impact on the Bay Area through his growing business in building construction and property management. His devotion to the community eventually led him to serve as Mayor, alongside many callings for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and Mary Lois also nurtured what they frequently referred to as their greatest legacy, their family.

Throughout the years, Mary Lois’s collection of portraits grew exponentially, reflecting the faces of those closest to her: children, grandchildren, and her most beloved friends.

Like Professor Gittins, she didn’t paint just to capture, but to express a deeper relationship.

“She painted people that she had a real fondness for, and those who she knew not just in appearance, but in their essence,” Wheatley said.

As her grandkids recount, “She would talk while she was working, not about the painting itself necessarily, but about life and her experiences, and asking about you. So, part of the experience of being painted were the hours and hours sitting and talking with Grandma.”

Family members and friends alike treasure the paintings she gifted them. Her work adorns the walls of their homes and a special place in their hearts. Amongst this special collection, there is one not by Mary Lois, but from a lasting mentor.

“One of our family’s most cherished paintings is by Alvin Gittins. It is of my mom right before she left the University,” Wheatley said.

This exchange, one of education and of art, is exemplary of the experience the College of Fine Arts strives for — one where mentorship is lasting, and memories of campus are some of the best.

Because of the incredible generosity of the Wheatley family, we usher in a new generation of artists who will dream in our spaces, inspire others in their expression, and never stop loving what they do. ■