the 1950s her paintings were influenced by Abstract Expressionism as well as by latter day Impressionism. Her husband Rudy Autio also credited her with his introduction to Matisse, which would influence the three dimensional decor he added to his ceramic vessels. Her pieces are notable for their use of color and shape, as well as their freedom from regional themes and dogma. Autio was a proud modernist. She was quoted as saying “I never did a popular, traditional painting of horse and elk and all that sort of thing. I always did abstract expressionism”. Her work was exhibited in many shows, including a faculty exchange of the University of Montana with the People's Republic of China in Hangchow in 1983, Montana Current Ideas, the Yellowstone Art Center, 1986, Judy Chicago/Lela Autio, Paris Gibson Square, Great Falls, 1987, The Manipulated Thread at the Missoula Museum of the Arts, 1988 and the Missoula Artists' Exchange Exhibition in Oaxaca, Mexico, 1989. Her art was also the subject of a career survey in 2000 which was shown at the Missoula Art Museum and the Holter Museum of Art in Helena. In 2012, three Plexiglass pieces by Autio were selected for a statewide survey of contemporary art known as the Montana Triennial. Legacy Lela and Rudy Autio, along with Peter Voulkos, helped found the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana. She was an artist in residence at the Archie Bray for five years during which time she taught classes and made pottery. She also contributed to the transformation of the Archie Bray from a brickyard to a ceramics art center with an international reputation before moving to Missoula in 1957. Autio also helped to found the Missoula Art Museum in the former Carnegie Library. She was instrumental in obtaining a lease for the Museum building. Autio was an advocate for art, women, the disenfranchised and many more marginalized groups. She supported many artists' work and non-profits including libraries and museums. She was motivated by her frustration that the work of women artists went unacknowledged. Lela was declined the opportunity to show her work at the University of Montana because of her gender. She received a MAM award in 2011 for her contributions, and received the Governor's Arts Award in 2015 from the Montana Arts Council. According to ceramicist Joshua DeWeese, “Lela has played an important role in the development of the contemporary art scene in