Ervin Nowicki

ERVIN E. NOWICKI of Port Washington, WI., an artist and art teacher, passed away on March 12, 2007 at the age of 85 in the presence of his loving wife Dorothy (nee Humphreys). Nowicki was a graduate of Pulaski High School (1939), Wisconsin State College (B.S., 1946 after returning from service in WWII), and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (M.S.E., 1952). He received an Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Air Force on December 13, 1945, Navigator, 384 Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, receiving the Air medal EAME Ribbon. He had flown 15 missions when the war ended in Europe. Nowicki taught art at Whitefish Bay High School for 30 years and was Department Head. He also taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the University of Saskatchewan and Milwaukee Country Day School. Additionally, he coached cross country and track at Whitefish Bay High School. In 1961 he was awarded a John Hay Fellowship for a year's study at Yale University and in 1968 a Fulbright-Hay Grant under which he taught at the Medway Technical School in Rochester, England. Nowicki's drawings and paintings were exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Walker Art Center, the Anderson Art Center, the Bradl...[more]

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Galleries, the Shirley Shannon Gruen Gallery, La Galleriera del Conte, the Wisconsin State Fair, the lake Front Show, the Charles Allis Art Library, the Pain Museum, and the Layton School of Art. Nowicki's artwork remains the permanent collects of the Milwaukee Art Museum, Clarke College, Museum of Wisconsin Art, Carroll College, Chase Bank, Bay View High School, and numerous private collections. Nowicki's style and medium changed over the years, ranging from pen and ink, oils and acrylics, pencil, landscapes, representations and abstract; he considered himself a colorist after his training at Yale University. Nowicki was an officer in the Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors Association and a member of MATA. One of his family's favorite works was "Lonesome Beach," which as the subject of a February 12, 1961 Sentinel art review entitled, "Oriental Feeling in Nowicki Show". In the interview Nowicki stated, "art is an activity [as opposed to a thing]....in art, I cannot say 'this is how the world is,' but rather 'this' is what I have found it to be." Nowicki is survived by his children Michael Nowicki [Grafton], Julia (Timothy Sandborn)[Chicago}, Joan Werner [Port Washington], Claudia Cunningham (Robert) [Polson, MT], grandchildren Anne (Ian Corcoran) [Cedarburg], Corinne [Grafton], Jessica [Grafton], John Swank [Chicago], Julia Werner [St. Louis], Madeline Cunningham [Polson, MT], and great grandchildren Lucy and Quinn Corcoran. He is further survived by 2 brothers: Eugene (Betty) Nowicki and Ralph (Elaine) Nowicki, one sister-in-law Dilys Spransy, nieces, nephews, other relatives and close friends. There will be a Memorial Service At First Congregational Church, 131 N. Webster St. in Port Washington on March 31, 2007. Visitation at 11 AM and Service at noon. The family suggests memorials to the Museum of Wisconsin Art, 360 S. 6th Ave., West Bend, WI 53095 or to the First Congregational Church.
Service:
12:00 AM at 131 N. Webster St. on March 31, 2007 (map/driving directions)