Evelyn Svec 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]

Evelyn Svec Ward
Born
Evelyn Svec

(1921-08-15)August 15, 1921
Solon, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, U.S.
DiedApril 8, 1989(1989-04-08) (aged 67)
Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, U.S.
EducationOtterbein University,
University of Paris
OccupationFiber artist
SpouseWilliam E. Ward

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), 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
  1. "Evelyn Svec Ward". Artists Archives of the Western Reserve. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  2. Who's Who in the Midwest. Vol. 16. A.N. Marquis. 1978. p. 734. ISBN 978-0-8379-0716-1.
  3. Evelyn Svec Ward: Retrospective. Cleveland Museum of Art, Battelle Fine Arts Center. Otterbein College. 1990.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. 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)
  5. 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.
  6. "Sheperd, Dorothy G. Payer". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University. 2018-05-11. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  7. "William E. Ward". ClevelandArtsPrize.org. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  8. Richards, Christopher L. (2015-11-23). "Into the Canvas: Post-Painterly Abstraction in Cleveland". Collective Arts Network - CAN Journal. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  9. "Mixteca Series #15, 1984". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  10. "Evelyn Svec Ward". The Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  11. Carnegie Magazine. Vol. 55. The Institute. 1981. p. 19.
  12. "Compuesta, Evelyn Svec Ward". Minneapolis Institute of Art. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  13. "Cadena de oro (Chain of Gold)". Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
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