“It's just a huge, huge loss,” said Greg Johnson, director of the Montana Repertory Theatre. “I think a lot of us are still struggling to come to grips with this passing of one of our giants.”
“He was really a force for the arts,” said George Dennison, president of the University of Montana. “He was a campus citizen of the first order. Š It is a big loss for the university.”
Kriley also took over the Montana Repertory Theatre, which at the time was struggling to find its place - and its funding - as a touring repertory theatre company. Under his leadership, the company reoriented its approach toward presenting a mix of student and professional actors - an approach that helped make it one of the longest-surviving repertory theater companies in the nation.
“He rescued (Montana Rep) and pulled it all together at a time when it was struggling,” said Montana Rep founder Bo Brown. “He really is the one who put the Rep on the track it remains on now.”
Current Montana Rep director Greg Johnson echoed that assertion.
“He was a great director of theatre, and a great builder,” said Johnson, who was hand-picked and recruited to join the UM faculty in 1990 by Kriley. “He made Montana Rep into a professional touring company and set us on the path we follow today. He was always ahead of the curve; he had a knack for seeing what was needed, and then pursuing that and creating that with great energy.”
Kriley was appointed dean of the UM School of Fine Arts in 1987, a position he ultimately held for 13 years. During that tenure, he co-founded “Creative Pulse for Teachers of the Arts and Humanities,” a nationally recognized interdisciplinary arts education graduate program. He was also instrumental in the creation of the UM Media Arts program, a technology-infused fine arts program that was among the first of its kind in the nation.
“He pretty much singlehandedly dreamed up and made that department happen,” noted Johnson.
At the same time, Kriley advocated the preservation and public display of the university's vast accumulation of artworks.
“In large degree he is responsible for the development of the (UM) art collection and making it accessible, taking appropriate care of it,” said Dennison.
UM's incoming dean of fine arts, Stephen Kalm, said Kriley's resume falls short of reflecting the professionalism and personality he brought to his work.
“He was charismatic, he had an incredible energy,” said Kalm. “He was outspoken and very articulate. He was a person who dealt with large issues and big visions.”
Kriley stepped down from his administrative position as fine arts dean in the spring of 1998 to concentrate once again on teaching and directing. He planned to retire from UM at the end of the coming semester, and was already talking about plans to busy himself with creative work.
“I was looking forward to working with him on productions with Montana Rep Missoula (a local company associated with Montana Rep),” said Johnson. “He leaves a huge hole in the Montana theatre community.”
Indeed, it's a loss that reverberates across America, said Arni Fishbaugh, director of the Montana Arts Council.
“He really has an important legacy in regard to touring professional theater around the country,” said Fishbaugh. “Montana Rep is one of the mainstays of the touring theater companies in the country, and Jim was always such an enormous advocate. When the days were darkest and funding was at its greatest peril, he was such a champion and just kept things alive.
“The theater world as a whole has lost a huge advocate in him.”
Missoulian reporter Betsy Cohen contributed to this story.
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Jason Breitkopf wrote on Jan 24, 2009 9:17 AM: