Deceased October 12, 1986
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In Memory
"He died on October 12, 1986, after a six-year battle with cancer." In those words, Linda Turcotte of Woonsocket, R.I., notified Amherst that her brother Art had passed away. Because most, if not all, of his classmates were unaware even that he had been sick, the news was particularly shocking and saddening.
Art Chisholm's fatal illness cut short a promising career in motion pictures. While earning a 1975 master's degree in cinema studies at New York Univ., he produced, directed, edited and/or wrote at least three films of varying genres and twice received coveted fellowships from the Louis B. Mayer Foundation.
Born in Woonsocket on February 2, 1942, Art grew up to become valedictorian at nearby Burrillville High School, where his classmates voted him "most likely to succeed." Unabashed in his affection for his small town roots, he would twice supervise cinema projects in the area.
After graduating from Amherst, where he earned honors in English, Chisholm spent 14 months in Germany during a two-year tour in the army. Then he settled in New York City, where he rose though the ranks to become night-division and summer-session registrar to Manhattan Junior College.
At that point, as he told a newspaper interviewer in 1976, "I took stock of myself and chucked tenure, good money and security to enter a field I love best--the movies."
That same article, in a Woonsocket publication, quoted a member of Chisholm's film crew as saying, "Arthur knows where he is going and all of us feel he will make it and make it big."
His classmates deeply regret that Art Chisholm was denied the opportunity to achieve his dream.
George McDougall '64