Renowned Bedford Park artist Barbara Korman has been remembered fondly by those who knew her following her recent death on Thursday, Nov. 30, at the age of 85. Bedford Mosholu Community Association president Barbara Stronczer, who said Korman was buried on Sunday, Dec. 3, said of her friend, “Barbara was a talented individual with many interests. She will be missed by both friends and neighbors.”

 

A Bronx native, Korman was a former public-school arts teacher in Co-op City, and a former board president and former program director of the Katonah Museum Artists’ Association. According to her website, Korman described her affinity and lifetime involvement with art, writing, “My Dad was a playful gambler, and my mom a fabulous baker… How could I not become an artist? Having fun taking chances and making things that are so much more than their ingredients.”

 

Working in New York City and Westchester County, she maintained a studio for the design and production of three-dimensional constructions, unique cast bronzes and wood installations. According to her website, Korman had traveled to every continent in the world, from the national parks in the United States to the Himalayas in Nepal, collecting regional art and making photographic notations of the land’s textures and formations.

 

 

In her studio are photographs tacked to the walls, galvanizing those memories and relationships important to her current work. Her site describes her sculptures, free standing and wall hanging, created with a variety of materials, with layers of color added “to activate the surfaces and affect the visual movement of the forms.”

 

In addition to local galleries like Bronx Art Space, Korman’s award-winning works have been exhibited in more than one hundred solo and group shows in leading museums and galleries, including The Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Neuberger Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grounds for Sculpture, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, Katonah Museum of Art, Hudson River Museum and Tiffany and Company’s Fifth Avenue windows.

 

Her sculptures are also included in public and private collections throughout the world, including the Neuberger Museum of Art, Phelps Memorial Hospital, and Olivetti-Rome.

A graduate of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, the “Fame” school, Korman earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts at the New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University. According to her website, she dedicated a large part of her life to education and the development of creative thinking. Named “StyleMaker” by the New York Times, she is listed in the Foremost Women of the 20th Century and Who’s Who in America.

 

Norwood News had highlighted Korman’s artwork over the years. Click here to view a video of her speaking about her work. On the website of Bronx Art Space, Korman previously wrote, “Changing times often signal changing behavior. After many years of working with salvaged tree branches, it felt like a time for a change.” She added, “I do like the challenge of limitations, and decided to work with store-bought wood and papier mâché craft forms. These small sculptures, while serious, seemed playful and demanded bright, playful color. I think of them as fetishes for fun.”

 

Lisa Keogh, Korman’s Bedford Park, next door neighbor and friend, said of the late artist, “She was a born and bred Bronx woman. She taught art, an educator, an artist, a fabulous sculptor, and I describe her as a [raconteur] extraordinaire! She was one of the best storytellers I’ve ever met!”

 

Of the loss to the community, Keogh said, “A huge loss,” adding that she spoke last weekend with one of Korman’s former students, Robert, with whom she had remained in contact over the years. Keogh added, “His last words to me [were], ‘She was one cool teacher’.”