Jeanne Moment

Jeanne Moment (1901–1984) was an American artist, educator, and environmental activist, best known for her expressive landscapes and graphic works, as well as for being a key catalyst for the "Keep America Beautiful" campaign of the early 1950s.

Education and teaching Born in 1901, Jeanne Moment lived and studied in California for the first part of her life. Her academic background included studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Columbia University School of the Arts. She also studied at the Museum Art School (now the Pacific Northwest College of Art), under the artist William H. Givler. Before moving to the Pacific Northwest, she had a professional career as a high school teacher in Los Angeles for twenty-five years.

Move to Oregon and artwork In 1940, she and her husband, Samuel Moment, relocated to Oregon, a move that influenced her artistic career.

Her early landscapes often reflected the influence of the 19th-century English artist J. M. W. Turner, particularly in her use of color to illuminate the subtleties of nature. In her later years, especially after 1960, Moment increasingly turned to graphics and a more abstract, less representational style, though nature remained her central focus.

Their efforts led to a nationally recognized legacy of the "Keep America Beautiful" campaign. The phrase "Keep America Beautiful" was the couple's idea in 1952. Their efforts began in Oregon "to teach Litterbugs and Vandalbugs to stop acting like pigs". This was beginning of a national effort to raise awereness. She designed a shopping bag used for the campaign.