Biography:
Lucille Henrietta Oliver was born in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York; 5/28/36.
Attended all public schools; primary and secondary. She was attending Buffalo
State Teachers College when the N.Y. painter, Peter Busa, advised her to take
the tests to enter The Cooper Union. She was accepted to the art school and
graduated in 1958. “I shall always be grateful to Busa, as I didn’t
know such a wonderful art school as Cooper existed. Cooper Union opened my eyes
to all the things that would be important to me for the rest of my life.”
Marrying after graduation she acquired the name Simonetti, worked at Cone Mills
in the art department and decided to go to Hunter College to become qualified
to teach. She achieved the BA from Hunter College and taught at Junior High
School 171K in New York for 4 years. After transferring to Dallas, Texas she
completed her masters degree in 1966. She taught art at Ursuline Academy in
Dallas (high school and grade school) at the same time teaching fine art in
the evening in the just opened Community College (EL Centro) in downtown Dallas.
“El Centro was a very special place in the ‘60s and ‘70s. It
was a place where all types of people with diverse experience mingled and bloomed.
I patterned my art classes after the way people like James Rosati, (Cooper);
Tony Smith, William Basiotes, and Robert Motherwell (Hunter) taught me in my
classes. I tried to give to others the wonderful awakening art school experience
that was given to me.“
Mrs Simonetti-Arnold is now a Professor Emeritus, retiring after 30 years of
teaching. She remains living in Dallas, Texas. She continues to sell and exhibit
her art work widely and is included in many collections.
Artists Statement:
This new medium of electronic art is so exciting to me. I feel extremely fortunate
in being able to have retired and now covet the time devoted to my new development
in this electronic world. Yet in learning the programs I find I am relying on
the same tenets that I learned so long ago from the first generation Abstract
Expressionists: that I learn by doing lots of work; I use my mistakes; I can
make something from nothing; change is good and a very important occurrence;
and design is a universal thing. I am able to make this medium represent my
way of working, albeit in an instant. I have developed an alter ego called Teddy,
based on my favorite childhood toy. Teddy was a dog faced/man bodied fellow.
What happens to me may happen to Teddy, although he does have his own adventures.
He often is an everyman and suffers the pains of our world. Sometimes a victim
but also a victor is our Teddy. I have no idea why he appeared when I took up
this medium. I guess he was lurking under my skin all along? I have been doing
my computer art now for two years and I look forward to the many changes that
will happen to my image. I’m sure Teddy does also.
Lucille O. Simonetti-Arnold.
