Obituary of Ayers L. Bagley

Bagley, Ayers Age 88, of Minneapolis, passed away on February 16, 2020. He is survived by his wife, Marian-Ortolf Bagley. The music world that he grew up in ranged from playing drums for dance jobs, playing bass trombone at Tanglewood under Serge Koussevitzky (1949) to playing in the Cass Technical High School (Detroit) Concert Orchestra where he was elected president of the marching band, as he was by other groups who valued his talents, leadership abilities, and lively humor. Completing his B.S. (1954) in music education at Wayne State University (Detroit) he earned M.S. (1958) and Ph. D. (1960) degrees at Indiana University (Bloomington) in History and Philosophy of Education, with supporting areas in art history and music, that served his life-long interests in education iconics. He was appointed assistant professor at University of Minnesota in 1960, and a full professor in 1970. He spent his long academic career researching "Education Iconics" and teaching in his lively style. While Director of Graduate Studies in History and Philosophy of Education, he was also invited to serve on graduate faculties in the College of Liberal Arts, in American Studies and in Religious Studies at the University of Minnesota. His Education Iconics Project became The Virtual Museum of Education Iconics, the first known collection of iconic art representing Western educational themes and ideas. He presented "Emblem Books and the Telling Image" at the first International Minnesota Conference on Cultural Emblematics in 1989. He was president of a number of professional organizations including the Society of Professors of Education, Midwest Philosophy of Education Society, and was exchange professor at Humboldt University in E. Berlin in September 1985 and 1987, and held the first Stirling Maxwell Fellowship (Emblem Book Studies) University of Glasgow, August 1988. He leaves behind many publications, - essays, monographs, and papers - that grew out of love of teaching, history of education and art, of the history of art, his library, and his archive of over 10,000 images that he found and photographed, his web site now found under the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development, and his Virtual Museum now directed by Merlin Jacobson ((iconics.cehd.umn.edu). Memorials preferred to the Ayers Bagley scholarship in the College of Education and Human Development, and the Bagley, Bistritzky and Begian (music educator scholarship) in the College of Liberal Arts. Thanks to the staff at Jones Harrison Community for taking care of Ayers Bagley and to private music therapist Richmond Scharf and therapist Carol Rose. A memorial reception will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. at Jones-Harrison Residence (3700 Cedar Lake, Minneapolis), on Sunday, March 29.