alumni.miad.edu

“Jack White was a Great Human Being.”

Jack …

Dedicated designer,
Consumate professional,
Valued friend.

We salute you!

Jack White is one of MIAD’s true Heroes. The early days of MIAD (Milwaukee School of the Arts) are recalled with awe and great fondness. As a school, we have never been more unified than when we were all working together to make the dream real. We succeeded against huge obstacles and all odds and the inspiration and driving force during that time was Jack. It’s because of the foundation laid during Jack’s presidency that everything that followed was possible. MIAD simply would not be here without him.

Thank you for everything, Jack.

Thank you for your very gracious invitation to “Commemorating Jack” on November 8th. Regretfully, I shall be unable to attend, but shall be with you and your associates in thought. Jack has been very special to a great many people - - - MIAD’s tribute to him is indeed warm and wonderful.

Sincerely,
Joan Levine

I am a friend of Jack White’s from our art school days at the Cleveland Institute of Art. I am now at the Pearl Conard Gallery, Ohio State University-Mansfield, and gave Jack his show. I can’t make it to his memorial but wanted to tell you and others how I saw him.

We first met as work-study students and charged with sweeping the basement floors, as well as cleaning the ceramics rooms for Toshiko Takaezu, now a world renowned potter. He had me laughing so hard that my sides hurt. He discovered a way of sweeping so that we wouldn’t have to go over the floors more than once. The school kept a barrel of what looked like red, dyed, shredded wood with an oil base to keep the floors shiny and keep down the dust. If we spread out this material across the front of the bristles and pressed down fairly hard as we pushed it down the hall, we could sweep and create the perfect shine in one swoop. It was those little things that made us laugh.

Then there was cleaning the dried clay off the windows that had splashed up during throws and breaking open 200-pound barrels of clay and heaving into the bins. The worst job was cleaning out the sink traps. Jack gallantly volunteered to stick his hand down in that smelly muck to clear it out. My hero.

We lost touch after graduation, he going his direction becoming the teacher, founder, director, president, dean, and a great human being; and I going mine. We reconnected about 15 years ago at a CIA reunion. It was as though we had never been apart…the same humor, the same kindness, the same upbeat temperament, the same sense of greatness that he always had. My daughter and I visited him and Bob several times in Milwaukee. One of his favorite stories was to talk about our school job and that we should forever stay close because, after all, we had already “swept” together. I miss him.

Rebecca Kaler Langley/Curator
Pearl Conard Gallery
OSU-Mansfield

I was saddened to hear of Jack’s passing, he was one of my instructors and later a colleague at the Layton School of Art. Please pass my condolences to Jack’s colleagues and friends.
I share your loss,
Paul

Paul Vaccarello
Associate Chair of Design Practices
Art & Design Department
School of Fine and Performing Arts
Columbia College Chicago

Jack was a very nice man. He knew I was coming to Florida in July, he wanted my sister and her husband to bring me down to see him. He said he would fix a light lunch. They told him he didn’t have to do that, but of course he did. He and Bob fixed grilled salmon, small parslied red potatoes, salad and fruit for dessert. That was Jack.

At least I got to see him, hug him, kiss him, and tell him I loved him. Little did I know it would be for the last time. Thank you for commemorating Jack. Thanks again.

His Aunt Bettie
I wish I could have been there.

My name is Loretta White O’Connor and I am Jack’s aunt.

When Jack was little my mother, Jack’s grandmother, made Jack and his brother, John, cute little matching suits and she called them “zuzu” suits.

Jack hated baked beans and when they came to grandma’s house for the holidays the kids had a nice little table set up just for them, by the refrigerator. We praised Jack for cleaning up his beans because we knew how he felt about them. But later in January when we did our Spring cleaning we found a nice pile of beans in back of the refrigerator.

Jack and I had this game we would play when they visited us. I usually was reading and he would come by and ask me”What are ya doing?”, and since he had a good sense of humor I would say anything that came to mind, like “Tap dancing”, whereupon he would fall down laughing and I would tickle him.

I sure hope he’s that happy in heaven.

I join many others (I’m sure of that) in expressing gratitude to those organizing the life and contributions of this unique and treasured man. It is not an exaggeration to say that thousands of artists, former students, colleagues and friends will never forget his lively-eyed and lively-brained presence and worthwhile influences on us.

I deeply regret not being able to join with you on November 8th to celebrate his life, and to greet my many friends and onetime associates from Layton, MSA and MIAD. Instead I send a favorite Jack Story. It is more a moment than a story.

I joined MIAD (then MSA) during its first summer break, having accomplished the amazing feat of creating and carrying through an initial year as a viable art school. I had, as did other artists in town, donated all of my art books and the sizeable library of the late David Staff. My vivid memory is Jack and I going through hundreds of volumes, filling in the quickly-created info cards and gluing them inside back covers. At one point, Jack lay down his pen, turned to look directly at me and, with the giddy expression of a youngster who has seen a huge bowl of ice cream heading its way, said, ‘Harold…do you realize what we’re doing here?!?!’ Of course he meant that we (all involved) were actually giving birth to a brand new Art college. I can see his sparkling eyes now, and re-experience that moment of pure joy vibrating out of him. Pure is the right word…PURE JACK. How lucky we all were.