FRED R. SCHWARTZ

Fred R. Schwartz, born in New York City, began his career in art following World War II, in which he served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in Europe. His wartime experiences were so harrowing that it caused him to rethink a career in medicine and he determined that art would be his life. Upon discharge from the service he studied art at Hofstra University and New York University, receiving his Ph.D in Art Education.

He married painter Madelyn Schwartz (neé Lipetz) in 1951, a partner in life and in art for more 58 years.

In 1959-60, already making a name for himself as an artist and educator while teaching at Lloyd Harbor High School (NY), he was chosen to host a live television program interviewing noted artists that was broadcast on Channel Eleven in the metropolitan New York area.

Dr. Schwartz taught at Pratt Institute, the Philadelphia College of Art, and Michigan State University during the 1960s. In 1969 he was named Chair of the Art Department at Newark State College, soon to be re-named Kean University. At Kean he oversaw the growth of the department into a major center for art studies in the New Jersey public university system.

The focus of his artistic work was abstract painting in oils and later in acrylics, and sculpture in welded copper, steel, ceramics, and wood. The paintings are often in bold, vibrant colors, some free in form others utilizing unique geometric design elements. The welded sculptures are often abstracts in found metal materials, although there exist numerous pieces with a measure of whimsy in their subject and design.

Dr. Schwartz was the author of Structure and Potential in Art Education (1970, Ginn-Blaisdell) and shepherded innumerable students into careers as art teachers throughout his career.

Upon retirement from Kean he taught courses at Parsons the New School for Design and continued his creative work as a painter and sculptor.

Dr. Schwartz was the president of Burr Artists of NYC, which exhibited annually at New York galleries including the Cort Gallery at Lincoln Center, Broome Street Gallery, Lever House, The Venezuelan Consulate Gallery, and the Synagogue of the Arts.