The UW-Madison Art Department is mourning the loss of one of their own.
The art department announced the sudden death of Gelsy Verna, a painting professor, in a letter posted Wednesday on its website.
“On Tuesday afternoon, March 11, Art Department staff learned that a beloved member of the department, Professor Gelsy Verna, passed away. This was very unexpected, and the cause of her death is currently unknown,” the posting said.
Derrick Buisch, an associate professor who worked closely with Verna, said he was not sure when Verna passed away, but colleagues were worried after she did not show up for work.
“The most important thing is to understand what a deep loss it is to our department—how this is completely sudden,” he said.
“I think she was a really important paint teacher for a lot of people and she worked with students of all levels from beginning painting through graduate painting.”
Buisch said Verna was convinced to come to UW-Madison by art professor T. L. Solien in 2001 after having taught together at the University of Iowa.
“Our departments have a fairly good, healthy competition the same way as our football teams and basketball teams,” Buisch said. “So we were happy to steal Gelsy from them—she was an excellent addition to our faculty.”
Verna received her bachelors and masters degrees from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her five-year-old daughter Clara is staying with close family friends who are also UW-Madison faculty members, according to Elaine Scheer, the chair of the art department.
“She was just a really wonderful teacher and she cared about every student individually,” Scheer said.
A public memorial is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday in Humanities 6265. Verna’s current and past students, colleagues and friends are encouraged to attend.
A piece of Verna’s work is currently at the Chazen Museum of Art as part of the 2008 Art Department Faculty Exhibition, which will be displayed until March 30. Scheer said Verna’s piece has altered images of Martin Luther King Jr.
Additional artwork can be seen at http://www.hamlettdobbins.com/studios.php.
