Blackwell, Goode, McMillan, and Ed Ruscha studied at the Chouinard Art Institute and shared a house at 1818 N. New Hampshire. For a brief time, they identified themselves as the “Students Five,” joined at various times by fellow students Wall Batterton and Don Moore, and they sought advertising commissions through a national ad. Each departed Chouinard and the house in the early 1960s to pursue their respective careers. Blackwell worked in advertising, while Goode, McMillan, and Ruscha sought careers as artists.
Williams, a lifelong friend of Ed Ruscha’s, came to prominence in the 1960s as an author, comedian, composer, musician, and poet. Paul Ruscha, Ed’s younger brother, also pursued a career as an artist, relocating permanently to L.A. in 1973.
