ARTIST MARION SHERET DEGRAZIA
On this episode of Big Blend Radio, Lance Laber, Executive Director of the DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, talks about the art and life of Marion DeGrazia.
Born in 1905, in Upstate New York, Marion Sheret DeGrazia was a fine artist who had attended the State Teachers College in Buffalo New York and studied sculpture and modeling at Columbia University. She moved from the East Coast to Tucson, Arizona in 1941 with her young son Harold.
Marion met southwest artist Ted DeGrazia at his first studio in Tucson, in 1945. As she recalled, his first words to her were “Where have you been?” In 1947, they married in Mexico.
Marion was instrumental in the success of DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, by managing the studio and allowing DeGrazia to travel and show his art, knowing that the gallery was always in good hands under her watchful eye. After DeGrazia’s death in 1982, she continued the work of the foundation until she died in 2002 at the age of 97. Her work, which includes sculpture, paper mâché reliefs and paintings are on display throughout DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun.
DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun is a 10-acre historic landmark nestled in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains in Tucson, Arizona. Opened in 1965, it is home to over 15,000 originals of Ted DeGrazia’s art pieces including oil paintings, watercolors, ceramics and sculptures. There are six permanent collections on display and several rotating exhibitions each year.
Learn more at www.DeGrazia.org.