American fiber artist
Evelyn Svec Ward
Born Evelyn Svec
(1921-08-15 ) August 15, 1921Died April 8, 1989(1989-04-08) (aged 67)Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, U.S.
Education Otterbein University , University of Paris Occupation Fiber artist Spouse William E. Ward
Evelyn Svec Ward (née Evelyn Svec ; 1921–1989) was an American fiber artist, she was known for her abstract textile work. She was influenced by Mexican handicrafts and Mexican traditional fiber.[ 1] She worked at the Cleveland Museum of Art in the textiles department for almost 10 years, before embarking on her career as an artist.[ 1]
Early life and education
Evelyn Svec was born on August 15, 1921, in Solon , Ohio , to parents Lydia (née Pravda) and Charles Svec.[ 2] She was raised in Maple Heights , Ohio , and graduated from Maple Heights High School in 1939.[ 3]
She received a B.A. degree (1943) from Otterbein College (now Otterbein University).[ 3] [ 4] One summer in 1952, she studied at University of Paris (Sorbonne).[ 3]
Career
From 1948 until 1955, Ward had worked at the Cleveland Museum of Art in the textiles department under curator Dorothy G. Payer Sheperd .[ 5] [ 3] [ 6] In 1952, she married William E. Ward (artist) [Wikidata ] , he was an exhibition designer at the Cleveland Museum of Art.[ 7] [ 3] They honeymooned in the Oaxaca Valley in Mexico.[ 8] After their honeymoon, the couple annually traveled to Mexico, a place that influenced her work.[ 5] [ 8]
She would use Mexican local materials and fibers in her work including from the maguey cactus (agave americana), zacate root, and amate bark paper.[ 5] She expressed in interviews feeling a connection to history through the materials.[ 5]
Death and legacy
She died in the hospital on April 8, 1989, in Cleveland. In 1991, her work was featured in a postmortem retrospective exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art.[ 1]
Her work can be found in public museum collections including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art ,[ 9] the Art Institute of Chicago ,[ 10] Cleveland Museum of Art,[ 11] Minneapolis Institute of Art ,[ 12] and the Philadelphia Museum of Art .[ 13]
References
^ a b c "Evelyn Svec Ward" . Artists Archives of the Western Reserve . Retrieved 2022-04-26 .
^ Who's Who in the Midwest . Vol. 16. A.N. Marquis. 1978. p. 734. ISBN 978-0-8379-0716-1 .
^ a b c d e Evelyn Svec Ward: Retrospective . Cleveland Museum of Art, Battelle Fine Arts Center. Otterbein College. 1990.{{cite book }}
: CS1 maint: others (link )
^ Miniature Fiber Arts: A National Exhibition, Issue 16444 . Laurel Reuter, Armory for the Arts (Santa Fe), Textile Workshops, Inc. Textile Workshops, Incorporated. 1980. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-9604110-0-9 .{{cite book }}
: CS1 maint: others (link )
^ a b c d Shin, Dorothy (1991-01-06). "Works by Northeast Fiber Artist Show Her Fascination For The Distance Past" . The Akron Beacon Journal . p. 40. Retrieved 2022-04-26 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Sheperd, Dorothy G. Payer" . Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University . 2018-05-11. Retrieved 2022-04-26 .
^ "William E. Ward" . ClevelandArtsPrize.org . Retrieved 2022-04-26 .
^ a b Richards, Christopher L. (2015-11-23). "Into the Canvas: Post-Painterly Abstraction in Cleveland" . Collective Arts Network - CAN Journal . Retrieved 2022-04-26 .
^ "Mixteca Series #15, 1984" . The Metropolitan Museum of Art . Retrieved 2022-04-26 .
^ "Evelyn Svec Ward" . The Art Institute of Chicago . Retrieved 2022-04-26 .
^ Carnegie Magazine . Vol. 55. The Institute. 1981. p. 19.
^ "Compuesta, Evelyn Svec Ward" . Minneapolis Institute of Art . Retrieved 2022-04-26 .
^ "Cadena de oro (Chain of Gold)" . Philadelphia Museum of Art . Retrieved 2022-04-26 .
International National Artists