Frances R. and Louis B. Morrison

The Frances Morrison Memorial Scholarship was established jointly in 1984 by her niece, Nancy Schwartz, her husband, David Schwartz, and Louis Morrison. Frances loved to paint and this was a meaningful way to memorialize her.

“Aunt Fran” was the beloved aunt of Nancy and sister of Nancy’s mother who died at the very young age of 41.She was born in Buffalo after her family of Russian Jews migrated first to Canada and then were able to enter the United States.
She and her family were as close in relationship to Nancy as parents and siblings.

When Louis Morrison (“Uncle Lou”) died, Nancy and David Schwartz renamed the fund to include Uncle Lou who was a graduate of UB and The Law School. After Fran’s death, Lou enrolled in art classes at UB and greatly enjoyed the company of the art students, inviting them for dinner and from time to time purchasing a work of art or two. For many years the yard in the back of his home on Lebrun Road was home to a sculpted tree trunk, and the front of a property at 916 Delaware Avenue still displays a very large (and sometimes controversial) metal sculpture.

The fund was the first one established for the purpose of providing some financial assistance to promising students in the fields of studio art, including painting, sculpture and photography. Since the inception of the fund, 408 grants have been made.