Helen Shafter Feyler-Switz (March 25, 1925 – July 18, 2006) was an American artist and art instructor, based in California.
Helen Feyler-Switz | |
|---|---|
 Helen Shafter Feyler, from the 1964 yearbook of Long Beach State College | |
| Born | Helen Shafter March 25, 1925 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died | July 18, 2006 (aged 81) Fremont, California, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Artist, art instructor |
Early life and education
editHelen Shafter was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of Wasyl (William) Shafter and Anna Cheredarchuk Shafter.[1] Her parents were immigrants from Austria; the family's surname was Szwczuk (sometimes written Shewchuk), until her father changed it upon naturalization in 1922. Her parents' home language was Ukrainian.
Shafter earned a bachelor's degree in art and French at Temple University, and later completed a master of fine arts degree at California State University, Long Beach.[2][3] In the 1960s, Feyler-Switz pursued further studies with sculptor Joop Beljon, at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. She also studied with François Stahly in Aspen, Colorado.[4]
Career
editWorking in oils, wood, bronze,[5] and cast concrete, Feyler-Switz made paintings and sculptures and taught art at Chabot College, Ohlone College, Cypress College, Saddleback College,[6] and California State University, Fullerton. Her sculptures were installed at California State University, Long Beach, Chabot College, the First United Methodist Church in Fremont, California, and St. Francis High School in Mountain View, California. She also designed a fountain in Fountain Valley, California, and sculptures in a reflecting pool in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Her work was seen in exhibitions throughout California from the 1960s into the 1990s.[7][8][9]
Feyler-Switz was one of the artists included in Maurine St. Gaudens' Emerging from the Shadows: A Survey of Women Artists Working in California, 1860-1960 (four volumes, 2016),[10] and one of her paintings was included in the related 2018 show Something Revealed: California Women Artists Emerge, 1860-1960 at the Pasadena Museum of History.[11]
Personal life
editHelen Shafter married widower Alfred E. Feyler in 1949, and moved with him to California. After Feyler died in 1968,[12] she married fellow art instructor Louis Switz in 1971. Feyler-Switz died in Fremont in 2006, at the age of 81.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Shafter (Shewchuk)". The Philadelphia Inquirer. December 10, 1971. p. 55. Retrieved October 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Feyler-Switz sculptures put on display at Chabot". Oakland Tribune. March 8, 1979. p. 66. Retrieved October 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Long Beach State College, Prospector (1964 yearbook): 264. via Ancestry
- ^ a b "Helen Shafter Feyler-Switz (1925-2006) - Modernist Village - Oil on Canvas c 1950 P3031". Early California Antiques Shop. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
- ^ "Casting Completed for New Production". Lariat. February 16, 1971. p. 3. Retrieved October 21, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "Students Learn Unique Art Techniques". Lariat. March 16, 1970. p. 3. Retrieved October 21, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ "College Coed to Exhibit Sculpture". The Los Angeles Times. January 16, 1966. p. 173. Retrieved October 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Bronze Wins Award". Independent. October 17, 1971. p. 81. Retrieved October 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Gallery exhibit". Oakland Tribune. April 17, 1985. p. 63. Retrieved October 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ St. Gaudens, Maurine (2015). Emerging from the shadows : a survey of women artists working in California, 1860-1960. Atglen, PA. ISBN 978-0-7643-4861-7. OCLC 935240202.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Artists in Part I of Something Revealed, Pasadena Museum of History.
- ^ "Alfred Edmund Feyler (death notice)". Press-Telegram. March 6, 1968. p. 32. Retrieved October 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.