Ada May Sharpless (also spelled Ada Mae Sharpless) (August 16, 1899 – November 20, 1988) was an American artist and sculptor.

Early life and education

She was born in

Hilo, Hawaii Hilo () is a census-designated place (CDP) and the largest settlement in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States, which encompasses the Island of Hawaii. The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 census. It is the fourth-largest settlement i ...

, the daughter of missionaries Viola and Benjamin Harry Sharpless, and grew up in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

. She graduated from

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

in 1922, studied art at the Otis Art Institute, and continued her studies in Paris for four years during the 1920s, with

Antoine Bourdelle Antoine Bourdelle (30 October 1861 – 1 October 1929), born Émile Antoine Bordelles, was an influential and prolific French sculptor and teacher. He was a student of Auguste Rodin, a teacher of Giacometti and Henri Matisse, and an important fi ...

Career

During the 1930s she created sculptures for several area parks and associations. She was a member of the California Art Club and the Laguna Beach Art Association.

Works of art

One of her most notable sculptures, ("Our Queen of the Angels"), was commissioned in 1934 by the federal Works Project Administration and funded by the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP). It was donated to the city in 1935 and installed at the edge of

Echo Park Lake The Echo Park Lake is a lake and urban park in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Originally built in the 1860s as a reservoir for drinking water, today Echo Park Lake is a Los Angeles icon that functions primarily as a dete ...

at Echo Park, Los Angeles,Joe Mozingo, "Welcoming Back 'Lady of the Lake': Echo Park: Some Residents See the Restoration of the Landmark Statue, Commissioned in 1934, as a Symbol of the Community's Renewal," ''Los Angeles Times'' (October 10, 1999): 1.
/ref> and became immediately popular at its installation. Despite its official title, it has become popularly known as "The Lady of the Lake." For this piece, Sharpless used the newly popular poured concrete material and technique commonly called "liquid stone." The sculpture is mounted on a four-sided pedestal faced with bas reliefs of the Hollywood Bowl, the Los Angeles harbor, the San Gabriel mountains, and the Los Angeles Central Library. After decades of deterioration it was restored and re-installed in 1999 by the City of Los Angeles. Sharpless also made a full-length statue of

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

for the patio of the

Bowers Museum The Bowers Museum is an art museum located in Santa Ana, California. The museum's permanent collection includes more than 100,000 objects, and features notable strengths in the areas of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, Native American art, the art of A ...

in Santa Ana, California."Cabrillo Model Completed: Statue to Stand in Santa Ana Museum," ''Los Angeles Times'' (January 19, 1933): A8.
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpless, Ada May 1899 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American sculptors People from Hilo, Hawaii People from Santa Ana, California Artists from Hawaii Sculptors from California University of Southern California alumni Otis College of Art and Design alumni People of the New Deal arts projects 20th-century American women sculptors