Students of the Hoosier Group - Encyclopedia of Indianapolis

Marie Goth was born to musicians in Indianapolis. After briefly thinking she would follow in her parents’ footsteps, she ultimately decided to become an artist. She attended Manual Training High School, focusing on drawing. She won a city-wide design contest at 16 years of age. After she graduated, she stayed at Manual working as assistant to Otto Stark, who was her father’s cousin. During this time, Goth also took courses at John Herron Art Institute.

Paul Hadley

Paul Hadley was born in Indianapolis and attended Shortridge High School before transferring to Manual Training High School to study under Otto Stark. Upon graduation, he continued his art studies at the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art in Philadelphia, where he became skilled in interior design and watercolor work.

In 1916, Hadley designed his best-known creation—Indiana’s State Flag.

John Wesley Hardrick

John Wesley Hardrick was a Black artist from Indianapolis whose artistic talent became known when he won awards for his artwork exhibited at the 1904 Indiana State Fair. Through encouragement from Herman Lieber, Hardrick enrolled in the Herron children’s classes while in elementary school.

Hardrick later attended Emmerich Manual High School where he began his art education under Otto Stark. He enrolled at the Herron Art Institute in 1910 and studied under William Forsyth.

Helene Louise Hibben

Helene Hibben was the daughter of Thomas Hibben, an artist and friend of William Forsyth, and Jane Merrill Ketcham, an early Indianapolis woman physician. Born in Indianapolis, she lived in Irvington. Interested in both art and education, Hibben first attended Pratt Institute in New York City to train in early childhood education. She later studied art at several institutions across the country, working with William Forsyth at John Herron Art Institute, sculptor Lorado Taft in Chicago, and studying bronze relief work at the Art Students League in New York.

William Edouard Scott

William Edouard Scott was a Black artist, born and raised in Indianapolis. He attended Emmerich Manual High School, graduating in 1903. He worked as an assistant high school art teacher at Manual while also under Otto Stark’s tutelage.

Scott went on to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (from 1904-1909) where he continued to develop his artistic style. He completed several murals in Chicago area schools, which are now considered the earliest public works depicting Black subjects.

Julia Graydon Sharpe

Julia Graydon Sharpe was born in Indianapolis to a wealthy family and spent her time mixing with and learning from creatives. She attended private schools in Indianapolis before briefly moving to Philadelphia to get specialized instruction in music. Sharpe attended the Indiana School of Art in 1878–1880, where she focused on her drawing skills. Despite her education, Sharpe took a break from artistic work, putting more emphasis on social activities and charity work.

Sharpe came back more seriously to art in 1894 when she became a student of William Forsyth and T. C. Steele at their second Indiana School of Art.