The Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives will continue its Brown Bag Lunch series on Wednesday, March 25, with a presentation by Lisa Autio about the newly-published memoir by her father Rudy Autio, “It Comes Around Again.” Rudy Autio (1926-2007) was an internationally-known artist who was born in Butte to Finnish parents in 1926 and lived in his native state throughout most of his career. He graduated from Butte High School in 1944 and served in the Navy during WWII before attending Montana State University. He headed the ceramics area at the University of Montana for twenty-eight years and retired as Professor Emeritus of the School of Fine Arts. Prior to his appointment at the University of Montana, Autio was a founding resident artist at the Archie Bray Ceramics Foundation and worked on the Montana Historical Society Museum in the 1950s. While Autio's best known work is figurative ceramic vessels, he has worked in a variety of materials and other media. In addition to commissions in ceramic relief and tile murals, he has worked in bronze, concrete, glass, fabricated metal sculpture, and design of colorful Rya tapestries. Notable works in Butte include a commissioned sculpture in the U.S. Bank Lobby and the bas relief facade of Gold Hill Lutheran Church.

This talk is presented in conjunction with the Archives’ current exhibit, “Butte’s Finnish Community.” This is the second of four exhibits to be produced from a year-long project in partnership with the Montana Preservation Alliance and funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Program.

The presentation will begin at noon and run about an hour at the Archives, 17 W. Quartz. Guests are encouraged to bring a sack lunch. Coffee and water will be provided.

Brown Bag Lunches are held the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month. Upcoming lectures will focus on topics of local interest. For more information, contact the Archives at 782-3280.