Background
Offner, Elliot Melville was born on July 12, 1931 in Brooklyn. Son of Samuel and Helen (Wolowitz) Offner.
Offner, Elliot Melville was born on July 12, 1931 in Brooklyn. Son of Samuel and Helen (Wolowitz) Offner.
He studied at Cooper Union before receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts from Yale University, where he was a protege of Joseph Albers.
He joined the faculty at Smith College in 1960 and was appointed Andrew West. Mellon Professor of Humanities in 1974. Offner taught at Smith until his retirement in 2004. During his artistic career, Offner was the subject of 27 solo exhibitions, and numerous group exhibitions.
His public works include The Strand Fire Memorial in Brockton, Master of Arts. "Loon, Great Blue Heron and Grouse", at the Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, Minnesota. "Child With Dog", Children’s Inn, National Institute of Health, Washington, District of Columbia.
"Monument to the Letter Carriers of America", Milwaukee, Wisconsin, "Holocaust Memorial Figure", Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, New York, "Karl Lehmann Memorial Plaque", Archaeological Museum, Samothrace, Greece, among numerous others
In 2003, Offner was named 2003 Master Wildlife Artist and given International Master Wildlife Sculptor Medal and Exhibition, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, Wisconsin. After retiring from Smith College in 2004, he following year he was given an Honorary Doctorate from Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and was named one of four Kenan Master Sculptors for 2005. Also in 2007, Brookgreen Gardens in Pawley"s Island, South Carolina, opened the Elliot and Rosemary Offner Sculpture Learning & Research Center.
Brookgreen Gardens is a National Historic Landmark with the most significant collection of figurative sculpture in an outdoor setting by American artists in the world. Offner served as a Visiting Artist at Brandeis University, Yale University, Royal College of Art, and Cambridge University.
Offner also served as president of the National Sculpture Society.
Elliot Melville Offner died in 2010 in Northampton, Massachusetts. Rosemary passed a year later, in 2011.
Served with Army of the United States, 1953-1955. Member American Printing History Association, Wynkyn De Worde Society, William Morris Society, Printing History Society, Bibliographical Society, Sculptors Guild.
Married Rosemary O'Connell, April 14, 1957. Children: Helen, Daniel, Emily.