Career
Born Sylvia Bernice Feingold in Brooklyn, New York, Dwyer started drawing and painting at age 8. As a painter, she was greatly influenced by El Greco and Francisco Goya, as evidenced in her figure drawing and composition. Her work has been exhibited in Greenwich Village, New New York
Spoleto, Italy.
Warner Library, Tarrytown, New New York Silvermine Guild of Artists. Chautauqua Institute, New New York
A noted expressionist and portrait painter, her work was well received by critics of the time.
Starting with exhibitions on the streets of Greenwich Village, she went on to show in many New York galleries, including a two-man show with noted artist Salvatore Tortora. Her last New York exhibit as an artist was held at the Women in the Arts Foundation, Incorporated. in New York City in 1976.
In 1958, Dwyer founded the Brooklyn Arts Gallery, the first art gallery in Brooklyn, where she discovered such notable artists as Andy Johnson, Vincent Vita, and the rediscovery of August Satre. She was also instrumental in the careers of Mary Fife Laning, Edward Laning, Bill Preston, Jack Katz, and Eugenia Zundel.
Due to the fact that the Brooklyn Arts Gallery"s first location was inside a professional building, Dwyer was at the center of the controversy of the Is Art a Profession? court case in 1959.
She is also credited for recognizing that an innovative technique, the Gemmaux Process invented by Jean Crotti, had been used to create the stained glass windows in the Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Cathedral (Brooklyn), prompting church leaders to bring the ten windows with them when they relocated. She continued to be a patron of the arts and an advocate for the role of arts in a healthy community throughout her life.
