Tuesday, Nov. 24, 1998 | 11:18 a.m.
She was a painter and an educator. She brought culture to the dusty valley when there was none. Her continuous message: to document life through art before it was lost in history.
Lucile Spire Bruner, a woman who spent half of her life giving the gift of art to Las Vegas, died Nov. 18. She was 89.
Born Lucile Spire Sept. 6, 1909, in Chautauqua County, Kan., the daughter of a dirt farmer acquired the pioneer spirit at a young age, a forceful spirit that would influence the success of her efforts in years to come.
When her father died at the age of 12, her family moved to Oklahoma to live with her aunt, a prominent Oklahoma physician. It was during that stay that Bruner learned the value of education, said her son, Jerry Bruner.
Spire studied fine arts at the University of Oklahoma, graduating in 1932. While a student at the university, Spire met and married Elmo C. Bruner, whose architectural career would lead them west, landing them in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico before finally settling in Las Vegas in 1947.
Three years after her arrival in Las Vegas, Bruner, along with a handful of other local artists, founded the Las Vegas Art League, which has prospered over the years to become the Las Vegas Art Museum at 9600 W. Sahara.
Shortly after forming the Las Vegas Art League, Bruner and friends organized the Las Vegas Branch of the National League of American Pen Women, a group of professional artists, writers and composers that is still active today.
Bruner then went on to teach art at local high schools, which "in the 1950s didn't have art classes so they brought in lay people to teach," said Jerry Bruner.
Bruner also for many years taught art at the Continuing Education Division at UNLV.
To make certain that residents in outlying communities had equal exposure to art, Bruner packed up her knowledge and materials and rode along with Clark County Library District's Bookmobile on its education-bound travels to Searchlight, Beatty, Pioche, Jean, Indian Springs and Armagosa.
If she wasn't riding with the Bookmobile, Bruner would create her own "artmobile" out of her blue Ford van and make the trip alone. The fact that she was in her 70s at the time didn't hold her down, Jerry Bruner said.
"She'd just load up all by herself and travel out to the country. She thought it was so important to record what was going on right then in that area."
She would teach others to visually record as well.
"She taught others how to paint landscapes, "artistic snapshots" of rural Nevada in the 1970s, '80s and '90s so it wouldn't be lost in history," Jerry Bruner said. "She perceived things in multi-century time frames."
Bruner also found importance in documenting the women's role in early pioneer life. The "Heritage Series," 26 oil paintings done between 1978 and 1991, chronicled her childhood in Kansas.
Each painting depicted one aspect of her family's life, said her daughter Marilyn Bruner. A 90-page manuscript accompanies the paintings. The family is planning to publish the project soon.
Bruner's work has been displayed at public libraries throughout the valley, in the James R. Dickenson Library at UNLV and in five Las Vegas banks. Her paintings are included in private collections throughout the United States.
The Lucile Bruner Elementary School, 4289 Allen Lane, was named in honor of her contributions to the Las Vegas Valley, and in 1982, Bruner was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from UNLV.
Bruner was also a member of the Mesquite Club, the Nevada Alliance for the Arts, the Allied Arts Council, the Nevada Watercolor Society, the Nevada Historical Society, the Sooner Club of Las Vegas and the Junior League.
"The one thing that impressed me most about her was her zest for life," Marilyn Bruner said. "My memories of her were about life and moving beyond the limits, like when she was in her 70s and still climbing onto the roof to fix her watercooler when it broke down in the summer."
Bruner is survived by two sons, Jerry L. Bruner of Las Vegas and Allen Leroy Bruner of Bullhead City, Ariz.; two daughters, Marilyn E. Bruner of Palo Alto, Calif., and Janice May Bruner of Solana Beach, Calif.; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be noon to 7 p.m. Friday at Bunker Mortuary, 925 Las Vegas Blvd. Services will be 10 a.m. Saturday at Bunker Mortuary.
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