Elizabeth Olds

1896 - 1991

Elizabeth Olds studied at the University of Minnesota, the Minneapolis School of Art and the Art Student's League. She was a member of the American Artists Congress and the Artists League of America. She was on the original board of control and faculty of the American Artists School. She was involved in the New York City WPA as a graphic artist from 1935-1940 and participated in the silkscreen unit which helped to develop serigraphy as a fine art medium under the direction of Anthony Velonis. She was the first woman awarded a Guggenheim fellowship. Her work was exhibited at the Kansas Art Institute, Philadelphia Artists Alliance and the Philadelphia Print Club. She participated in the PM magazine competition "Artist as Reporter" in 1940. Her work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, New York Public Library, the San Francisco Museum of Art and many others. She authored six children's books and illustrated them with woodblock. Her book (authored and illustrated) The Big Fire was chosen as a Junior Literary Guild Selection in 1945 and Feather Mountain published in 1951 was a runner-up for the Caldecott Medal.