Hannah Mecklem Small, later Hannah Mecklem Small Ludins (January 9, 1903 – April 25, 1992) was an American sculptor. Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Small was the daughter of Eugene and Grace Workum Small. As a teenager she enrolled in the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

, studying there with

Alexander Stirling Calder Alexander Stirling Calder (January 11, 1870 – January 7, 1945) was an American sculpture, sculptor and teacher. He was the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and the father of sculptor Alexander Calder, Alexander (Sandy) Calder. His best-kn ...

and

Boardman Robinson Boardman Michael Robinson (1876–1952) was a Canadian-American painter, illustrator and cartoonist. Biography Early years Boardman Robinson was born September 6, 1876 in Nova Scotia. He spent his childhood in England and Canada, before mov ...

. There she met

Eugenie Gershoy Eugenie Gershoy (January 1, 1901 – May 8, 1986) was an American sculptor and watercolorist. Life Gershoy emigrated to New York City with her family in 1903. Aided by scholarships, she studied at the Art Students League under Alexander Stirlin ...

, who would go on to become a lifelong friend. At one time married to the painter Austin Mecklem, in 1932, in

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Small met

Eugene Ludins Eugene Ludins (March 23, 1904 in Mariupol Russian Empire – May 20, 1996 in New York City) was a leading regional American painter and academic. His paintings are in the collection of the Whitney Museum of Art, and his works have been shown in so ...

, with whom she eloped to

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. Her neighbor at Woodstock was the sculptor John Flannagan, who encouraged her to begin

direct carving This page describe terms and jargon related to sculpture and sculpting. __NOTOC__ A armature :An armature is an internal frame or skeleton which supports a modelled sculpture. A typical armature for a small sculpture is made of heavy gauge ...

, using stones found in the area as her initial forms. Small produced a number of works for the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

during her career, and won numerous awards, including the

Logan Medal of the Arts The Logan Medal of the Arts was an arts prize initiated in 1907 and associated with the Art Institute of Chicago, the Frank G Logan family and the Society for Sanity in Art. From 1917 through 1940, 270 awards were given for contributions to Amer ...

from the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

in 1940. She died in

Kingston, New York Kingston is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with t ...

. Her work may be found in numerous public and private collections, and her papers are archived, along with those of her husband, at the art center in Woodstock.

References

1903 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American sculptors Sculptors from New York City Art Students League of New York alumni People of the New Deal arts projects Sculptors from New York (state) 20th-century American women sculptors {{US-sculptor-stub