Gayle Wimmer
August 25, 2013

WIMMER, GAYLE: Beloved sister, Professor Emeritus and internationally renowned artist, Gayle Wimmer died peacefully on August 25th after a long illness.  Born in Pittsburgh, daughter of the late Frances and Emanuel Wimmer, Gayle received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. After teaching at The New School and Hunter College in New York, she joined the faculty of the School of Art and Art History at the University of Arizona in Tucson where she initiated and directed a program of Fiber Arts. She worked in non-traditional textile, mixed media, and photo/printmaking processes. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad since the early 1970s and is found in many public and private collections including the National Museum of Textiles in Poland. Ms. Wimmer received numerous grants and fellowships for her work including a NEA Individual Artists Grant, and a Fulbright Fellowship. Beginning in 1971 she was awarded three IREX fellowships sponsored by the Ford Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, for extended art research in Poland. Her work was awarded the "Juror's Prize" at the 1996 International Biennial of Tapestry in Beauvais, France. Wimmer traveled extensively and at various times lived in Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. In 1988 she was a visiting Fulbright Professor at the University of Haifa in Israel. In 1999 she returned to Poland for five months as a guest lecturer and visiting artist to evaluate the effects of political change upon the work of contemporary Polish artists. Throughout the '80s and '90s, Wimmer's work was influenced by and reflected collective geographic, political, and social issues in countries where she had worked and lived. She is survived by her sisters, Lynne Wimmer and Dr. Susan Nathan, her niece Hope Ann Nathan and brother-in-law Robert Nathan as well as numerous artists and students who studied with her throughout the years. Services at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., 5509 Centre Avenue, Shadyside on Wednesday at 12 Noon. Visitation one hour prior to services (11 AM - 12 Noon) Interment PRIVATE. Those who wish to make charitable donations may do so to a charity of choice or Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia online - www.willseye.org/howtogive. www.schugar.com

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