Ruth's Early Life

Brice was the daughter of Fairview School principal Joshua S. Cobb and his wife Rachel McKinney Cobb. After finishing her collegiate studies, Brice followed in her father's footsteps and became a teacher in 1928. Her brother, St. Clair Cobb, was a noted band master who founded the Knoxville College Band in 1926 and the Black Elks Band in the 1940s.

As a young girl, Brice displayed a gift for art and loved to color apples and oranges as early as the second grade. Many years later, she went on to share her passion with others by teaching art to her young students. The Knox County School District hired Brice in 1928 to teach art at Heiskell Elementary School, then a public school for Black children. She later taught at Maynard Elementary in Mechanicsville. Her interest blossomed more fully when she later began studying at Knoxville College during the mid-1930s. When she had the opportunity, she studied with professional artists in Washington, DC.

Artistic Career

Throughout her artistic career, Ruth Cobb Brice enjoyed working with all art media from ink to casein to watercolor. She took great inspiration in the world around her which translated well into her paintings, drawings, and poetry. By 1953, Brice was exhibiting her artwork in Knoxville and over the next two decades, she became a familiar face in local galleries.

Her earlier art - consisting of vivid landscapes as well as vibrant and oftentimes expressive depictions of animals and produce - spoke to her love of nature and ability to see the simple wonders of life. As she got older, she expanded her own artistic style through her unique interpretation of Cubism which had formerly been popularized by the famed artist Pablo Picaso. The influence of Surrealism can also be seen in Brice's later paintings, showcasing abstract imagery of people, shapes, and wildlife.

Later Years

After 47 years of teaching, Ruth Cobb Brice retired and devoted her energies to art. In 1968, Brice became the first Black artist to join the invitation-only Knoxville Watercolor Society. Her work was shown across the county, from Omaha to New York, as well as locally at Knoxville College, The University of Tennessee, and the Dulin Gallery of Art (now Knoxville Museum of Art).

Near the end of her life, she painted two notable murals for the East Tennessee Children's Hospital. Ruth Cobb Brice passed way in 1971 and was interned at Crestview Cemetery in the West View community. The Beck Cultural Exchange Center organized a retrospective exhibition of fifty of her works in 1985 and continues to preserve several of her works in our permanent collection.