Lela Autio (April 12, 1927 – January 23, 2016) was a modernist painter and sculptor from Great Falls, Montana, notable as a co-founder of the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana, and of the Missoula Art Museum Background Following her mother's death when she was 3 years old, Autio was raised by her father along with two sisters and one brother. Her brother died in a drowning accident at the age of 8. She graduated from Great Falls High School and attended Montana State College (now Montana State University) with a scholarship, and achieved a B.A. She received an MA in painting and drawing from the University of Montana in 1961 where she was a student of Frances Senska. For much of her life she lived in Missoula, Montana, and taught at Hellgate High School. Autio held a 10-year teaching position at Hellgate High School, as well as a 3-year position at Head Start and a one-year artist-in-the-schools position in Bozeman. Her husband Rudy Autio was a ceramicist. Lela was alsothe family's business manager. The couple raised four children, two of whom, Chris and Lisa Autio, are also artists. Autio was said to be proud of all four of her children. Lela Autio was described as lively and joyous. Susan Ridgeway, Autio’s daughter-in-law, said “Life didn’t happen to Lela. Lela took charge of life.” Autio was headstrong and spoke her mind, once described as: “She was no bullshit gal”. Autio died in 2016 of kidney cancer which rapidly spread to her lungs. She continued to work on her art until illness forced her to stop. Art career Autio started as a painter but moved to other mediums when paint didn’t live up to her own expectations. Autio created abstract soft sculpture works before any artist in the country gained wide recognition in the medium, making her an innovative figure in the field. Not all of her work was in the medium of ceramics. She began working on theatrical costumes as a high school student. Over her life she created objects, usually wall hangings, and sculptural assemblages made from fabric, plexiglas, mylar, and plastic. Her soft sculptures draw on the tradition of Claes Oldenburg though they rarely depict identifiable objects. More often they create environmental spaces or theatrical interiors. Autio also created a number of paintings early in her career of landscapes and individuals from her community of Montana artists. In