At a glance
The majority of the work on display, which spans from 1940 to 2015, will consist of Jeanne’s watercolors. Also included will be a variety of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and ceramics.
In honor of the long and outstanding career of local artist Jeanne Ehmann, an upcoming exhibit at Alfred State College’s Hinkle Memorial Library titled “Jeanne’s Genes” will feature various pieces of her work from throughout a 75-year period.
The majority of the work on display, which spans from 1940 to 2015, will consist of Jeanne’s watercolors. Also included will be a variety of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and ceramics.
The exhibit will also feature work by her daughters Constance Ehmann and Christine Ehmann; her granddaughters Annie Robrecht and Mae Vincenza Backer; her great-grandchildren Abhainn Dobhran (Abby Bajus), Phin Bajus, Liam Bajus, Lydia Bajus, Ezi Backer, and Elli Backer; and local artist Glenn Zweygardt and Virginia artist Amber Erbschloe.
Jeanne Ehmann, is on display at Hinkle Library Gallery
from now until Oct. 26.
Kicking off the opening for the show will be a reception taking place from 4-6 pm. Sept. 14 in the Hinkle Library Gallery. The public is invited to attend, and the exhibit will be on display until Oct. 26.
“We are a blessed family to have her in our lives and to see how her artistic legacy surfaces in each generation,” said Constance Ehmann, an assistant professor in the Digital Media and Animation Department at Alfred State College.
Jeanne Ehmann was born in 1920 and raised in Spencerport, but lived in many other areas of the United States throughout her adult life. She now resides in Alfred Station. As a young woman, Jeanne aspired to be an artist but her father, a farmer, and her mother, a nurse, insisted she be more pragmatic because in her father’s words, “Any dang fool can draw.”
She graduated from Keuka College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1941. She drew and painted while she raised her four children, taught elementary school, ran a business for 25 years, pursued a master’s and later her Doctorate in Linguistics, which she earned from SUNY Albany.
When she retired from teaching and the family business, she began to devote more time to making jewelry and painting. Her focus narrowed to painting when she joined a watercolor club in Arizona.
The family gives special thanks to Ray Clement, a friend of the family for 50 years and Constance’s partner, and the Clement Frame Shop and Art Gallery in Troy for framing newly found images of Jeanne’s.
Jeanne’s Genes will be open for viewing during normal library hours. To inquire about exhibiting your work in the Hinkle Gallery, email library@alfredstate.edu or call 607-587-4313.