Friends and family are mourning the loss of our beloved Ant Sister Deedee Schwartz who passed away on March 3, 2014. The Ant Farm Project is a testament to her love of life. We began meeting 2 years ago thanks to Rebecca Goodale. At Deedee's suggestion we looked to E.O Wilson and the leafcutter ants because of their cooperative nature as a Superorganism. Working together ant-style our colony of 4 created works we never could have imagined or achieved on our own. Deedee worked with infectious enthusiasm, making beautiful woodcuts(see below) and co authoring a A MAC Artists in Commuinity grant with our honorary Ant Girl USM Curator Robyn Holman which we received in February 2014.
Deedee had been sick since mid November but with her indomitable spirit continued, despite severe pain, to attend work meetings for our project.
She died peacefully within days, surrounded by her loving family. We are all grateful for knowing Dorothy "Deedee" Schwartz. She was a force of nature.
Her creative spirit was boundless, compassionate, intelligent and irreplaceable.
Deedee and her husband, avant garde composer Elliott Schwartz were a creative team. They supported each others individual endeavors and collaborated on "Darwin's Dream",
a multi- media performance. Elliott will be composing "Ant Girls" with Caleb Mulkerin for the upcoming exhibit. She made it clear she wanted “No Sad Songs”, feeling she had lived a very full life, with so much joy. Dorothy was a champion of literature & literacy. She established the Harriet P. Henry Maine Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of Congress. A quote from a collague during her time as Executive Directeor at the Maine Humanities Council, " Deedee’s energy, commitment and vision enriched not only the Council, but the state of Maine.
This past October in 2013 the Maine Jewish Museum held her solo exhibition "Dorothy Schwartz: Evolution of a Printmaker" , beginning from her days with Leonard Baskin in 1958 until present . Printmakers everywhere have lost a edgy contemporary whose elegant and compelling legacy spans 7 decades.
