Ruth Esserman

Artist Details

• First Name Ruth
• Surname Esserman
• Spouse’s Full Name Norman Esserman
• Names and Birth Years of Children daughter: Dale Esserman Martellino
• Birth Date 1927
• Active In Chicago, Illinois
  
  Crested Butte, Colorado
• Studio Location(s) Bridgeport Art Center, Chicago, Illinois summer home/studio: 665 Nicholson Lake Ridge Rd., Crested Butte, Colorado
• Categories Collage, Painter, Printmaker
• Training 1945: Northwestern University
  1945-1948: BA, University of Illinois
  1948-1949: MA, University of Illinois
  1951-1961: School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  1957: St. John’s College, Great Books European Study Program
  1958: University of Mexico
  1976, 1985, 1986: Western State College, Gunnison, Colorado
  1987: Harvard University, Summer Program
  1989: Parson’s School of Design, Summer Program in Africa
  
• Exhibitions History 1956: Drawings and Paintings, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, Illinois
  
  February 12-26, 1957: Chicago Artists No-Jury Exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois: Moment of Prayer; Madre Mejicana
  
  June 14-29, 1958: Chicago Artists Exhibition, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois:  No Way Out
  
  1963: Prints and Drawings, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, Illinois
  
  1964-1974: Indiana Art Museum, Fort Wayne, Indiana
  
  1964-2017: Professional Members’ Exhibit, Chicago Arts Club, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1965: Printmakers: Tom Giuliano, Ruth Esserman, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, Illinois
  
  1967: Midwest Artists for Peace, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1967: Drawing Invitational, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, Illinois
  
  1968: Chicago Artists’ Response Exhibit
  
  1977: Southwest Texas State College [solo]
  
  1977: Loyola University Gallery, Chicago, Illinois [solo]
  
  1978: Women in the Arts, Crested Butte Arts Center, Crested Butte, Colorado
  
  1980: Statewide Arts Festival, Jacksonville, Florida [solo]
  
  1982: Evanston Public Library
  
  1982: Recent Paintings and Drawings, Western State College, Gunnison, Colorado
  
  1988: Assemblages, Fort Sumner National Monument, New Mexico Museum
  
  1988: Artists for Peace Awareness, Suburban Fine Arts Center, Highland Park, Illinois
  
  1988-1991: Laurel Seth Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
  
  December 1989: Paintings/Drawings, Strel-Hillerman Residence Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
  
  January 1990: Gunnison Valley Juried Artist’s Exhibit, Crested Butte Center for the Arts, Crested Butte, Colorado
  
  May 1990: 20^th Anniversary Exhibit of Sybil Shearer Dance Company Drawings, Northbrook, Illinois
  
  1991: Tambra Gallery, Salem Oregon
  
  1993: Travel Sketch Books, Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1994: 1117 Pak, NAB Gallery
  
  May 1996: Journey to Health, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1996-1998: Themes Gallery, Newport, Rhode Island
  
  1997: Variations on a Theme, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1997: Park Studio Gallery [solo]
  
  1997: Focus on the Arts, Highland Park, Illinois
  
  March 1998: The Architecture of Mythmaking, Harper College
  
  October-November 1998: Mythic Time, Fermilab Gallery, Batavia, Illinois
  
  1999, 2000, 2003-2005: IAEA Electronic Gallery
  
  2000: Wish You Were Here, Crested Butte Center for the Arts, Crested Butte, Colorado
  
  2001: 12x12, Suburban Fine Arts Center
  
  2001: NAEA National Juried Electronic Exhibit
  
  2002: Liberman Gallery Exhibit, Geneva, Illinois
  
  2002: Time/Timelessness, Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Chicago, Illinois
  
  2002-2005: Artists’ Month Exhibit, Bridgeport Galleries, Chicago, Illinois
  
  2004: John David Mooney Sculpture and Ruth Esserman Paintings and Drawings, Crested Butte Center for the Arts, Crested Butte, Colorado
  
  2004-2006: international drawing biennale, Pilzn, Czech Republic
  
  2007, 2013: Crested Butte Center for the Arts, Crested Butte, Colorado
  
  October 8-November 16, 2008: International Biennial of Drawing Pilsen, Pilsen, Czech Republic
  
  2012: Hangaten, Tokyo National Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
  
  2013: Lucille Lucas Gallery, Gunnison, Colorado
  
  July 15-22, 2013: Ruth Esserman Exhibition, Crested Butte Center for the Arts, Crested Butte, Colorado
  
  May 16-September 28, 2014: Rockford Art Museum Biennial, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois
  
  2014: New Drawings by Ruth Esserman, The Cliff Dwellers, Chicago, Illinois
  
  2014: Piper Gallery, Crested Butte Art Center, Crested Butte, Colorado
  
  2015: Visionary Art, John David Mooney International Gallery
  
  2016: The Present Future, Bridgeport Art Center Gallery, Chicago, Illinois [solo]
  
  2016: East Bank Studio Gallery
  
  June 1-September 2, 2016: Future Presence, Southern Indiana University Museum Gallery, Evansville, Indiana
  
  January 28-June 3, 2017: Mapping and Boundaries, Lubeznik Art Museum, Michigan City, Indiana
  
  May 19-July 25, 2017: At 90: New and Re-New, Bridgeport Art Center Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
  
  June 5-30, 2019: Tracking Space, Bridgeport Art Center Gallery, Chicago, Illinois  [solo]
  
  July 2019: 89^th Exhibition of Visual Artist Members, Arts Club Chicago, Chicago, Illinois: AI, 2019
  
  Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado
  
  Harper College
  
  Minneapolis Art Museum
  
  St. Paul National Drawing Show
• Collections Mr. and Mrs. Chan
  
  Deerfield High School, Deerfield, Illinois
  
  Evanston Township High School, Evanston, Illinois
  
  Milton Hebald Collection
  
  Highland Park High School
  
  Lake Forest Schools, Lake Forest, Illinois
  
  River Forest-Oak Park, Oak Park, Illinois
  
  Southern Indiana University
  
  Southwest Texas State University
  
  Constantine Sylvestri Collection, Paris, France
• Memberships Chicago Arts Club
  
  National Art Education Association;  Board of Directors
  
  Illinois Arts Council Advisory Panel
  
  Illinois Art Education Association; President
• Awards 1958: Paul McCurry Purchase Award, Lake Forest, Illinois
  
  1960: Paul McCurry Purchase Award, Lake Forest, Illinois
  
  1960: 2^nd prize for painting, Old Orchard Invitational
  
  Associates Purchase Award, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  
  Eisendrath Award, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  
  Purchase Award: Southwest Texas State College
  
  First Prize: NAEA and Illinois Art Education Association Electronic Gallery
  
  1991: Arts Award, City of Highland Park, Highland Park, Illinois
  
  2008: The Best of the Biennale, international drawing biennale, Pilzn, Czech Republic
• Other Occupation(s) 1967-1970: Artist in Residence, Sybil Shearer Dance Company
  
  1971 and 1972 summers: instructor, Experimental Art Program, Northern Illinois University in Colorado
  
  1978-1988: instructor: Columbia College, Master’s Program in Interdisciplinary Arts, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1980-1981: art critic, New Mexican Newspaper, Santa Fe, New Mexico
  
  1989-1992 summers: Western State College, Gunnison, Colorado
  
  1989-2004: adjunct professor: The School of the Art Institute, Chicago, Illinois
  
  teacher/chairperson: Highland Park High School, Fine Arts Department, Highland Park, Illinois
  
  1989-2004: Adjunct Professor, Elementary and Secondary Education, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
• Website(s) Artist's website with resume (well illustrated)
  
  video in which Ruth Esserman, a veteran artist and art professor, explores the magic and wonder involved with creating an identity and a sense of place within the natural world.  Produced and funded by the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum and the Crested Butte Creative District
  
   Oral history from Ruth Esserman about and the role of art within the Gunnison Valley. Video by Red Lady Films. Support for this video provided by the Crested Butte Creative District.
  
  video tour of Crested Butte, Colorado House/studio of Ruth Esserman. Construction images are from 1970. Rebar and glass was obtained from an old Denver greenhouse; fireplace column from a deserted mine; metal pieces from The Silver Queen Mine, Staricka’s junkyard, local dump sites; moss covered stone from local outcroppings. Most of the wood came from abandoned houses. The video shows the completed structure.