Images(2)

"Sweet"

Object number2013.50.3

Artist Donna Hollen-Bolmgren (1935 - 2013)

MediumOil paint/Canvas/Paper/Wood/Metal

Credit LineGift of Estate of Donna H. Bolmgren

DescriptionFramed oil painting on canvas featuring a close up of the lower half of Jerry Caplan's bearded face and neck. Set in frame without glazing.Dimensions14.625 x 17.625 in. (37.1 x 44.8 cm)
Signed"Hollen / Bolmgren" on lower left corner of artwork; also on bottom edge, visible on obverse.
InscriptionsHandwritten in black on reverse upper left: "#6527".
Historical NotesPortrait of artist Jerry Caplan by Donna Hollen-Bolmgren. Born in Willmar, Minnesota, on May 28, 1935, Donna Hollen-Bolmgren was a noted Pittsburgh-area artist most noteworthy for her work using the mediums of painting, papermaking, and paper sculpture. She attended the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis where she graduated with a B.S. in art education. Bolmgren continued her education at both the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie-Mellon University once she relocated to Pittsburgh. Bolmgren worked as an art teacher for over thirty years at the collegiate level and at public and private School Districts at all grade levels, primarily at either Chatham College or Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Through this teaching experience she began her longtime collaboration with fellow-artist Jerry Caplan with whom she shared workspace and had a significant friendship with, resulting in her appearance in his “Pittsburgh People” sculpture exhibit at the “pocket park” at 228 Boulevard of the Allies in downtown Pittsburgh. In addition to her teaching career, her works have been displayed both locally and internationally, especially her work with paper, which was her specialty. In addition to her robust body of work, she had several other accomplishments, chief among them her work establishing the “Master Visual Artists: Preserving the Legacy” project to honor local artists at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts in 1991 and was named a Master Visual Artist herself in 1996. In association with this project, she helped to establish the Visual Arts archive at the Heinz History Center and the Historical Society of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Other honors and awards bestowed upon Bolmgren and her work include honors from the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, the Frank Ross award from the Craftsmen’s Guild of Pittsburgh in 1992, and a pair of awards from the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, the Mildred Cohen Award in 1985 and the Juror’s Award in 1999. She died on March 5, 2013, in her Pittsburgh home, just two years after her final exhibit was displayed at Gallery Chiz in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Related person Jerry Caplan

Related institution University of Minnesota

Related institution University of Pittsburgh

Related institution Carnegie Mellon University

Related institution Chatham University

Related institution Pittsburgh Center for the Arts

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