Perna Krick (1909, Greenville, Ohio – 9 March 1991, Baltimore, Maryland) was an American sculptor, painter and teacher. The daughter of Harry E. and Perna Krick, she was born and raised in

Greenville, Ohio Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Darke County, Ohio, United States, located near the western edge of Ohio about 33 miles northwest of Dayton. The population was 13,227 at the 2010 census. History Historic Native American tribes in ...

, and attended the school of the

Dayton Art Institute The Dayton Art Institute (DAI) is a museum of fine arts in Dayton, Ohio, United States. The Dayton Art Institute has been rated one of the top 10 best art museums in the United States for children. The museum also ranks in the top 3% of all art mus ...

. She came to Baltimore in 1927 to attend the

Rinehart School of Sculpture The Rinehart School of Sculpture is the MFA granting sculpture program of the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) located in Baltimore, Maryland. It was ranked in 2016 as the #3 MFA degree program in the country for sculpture by U.S. News & ...

at the

Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a private art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the oldest art colleges in the U ...

(MICA),"Perna Kramer, artist, dies at 67,"
''The Baltimore Sun'', March 12, 1991. where she studied under J. Maxwell Miller and won two traveling scholarships to Europe. She later taught children's art classes at MICA, where Joan Erbe was one of her students. Her best known work may be ''Young Siren'' (1937), a fountain figure of a young girl riding a fish. It was exhibited at the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Peter Hastings Falk, ed., ''The Annual Exhibition Record of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1914–1968, Volume 3'' (Sound View Press, 1989), p. 277. and at the

National Sculpture Society Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society (NSS) was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members ...

's 1940 exhibition at the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

. It is now installed in the children's room at the main branch of Baltimore's

Enoch Pratt Free Library The Enoch Pratt Free Library is the free public library system of Baltimore, Maryland. Its Central Library and office headquarters are located on 400 Cathedral Street (southbound) and occupy the northeastern three quarters of a city block bound ...

. Her sculpture group, ''Serenity'' (1939), earned an honorable mention at the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...

. Under the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

Section of Painting and Sculpture The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...

, she carved ''The Power of Communication'' (1939–40), a wood relief mural for the U.S. post office in Pocomoke, Maryland. It depicts a Native American spirit reclining on a cloud and observing a passing

Air Mail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be the ...

plane. Sculptor Reuben Kramer (1909–1999) had been a classmate at the Rinehart School. In 1944 they married, and together founded Pioneer House, "the first licensed, desegregated art school in Maryland." It is now known as the Baltimore Art Center for Children. In the 1940s she switched her artistic focus to painting, and became known for her depictions of animals, birds and flowers. She exhibited at the

Baltimore Museum of Art The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA's collection of 95,000 objects encompasses more than 1,000 works by Henri Matisse anchored by the Cone Collection of ...

, the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. the

Architectural League of New York The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines". The league dates from 1881, when Cass Gilbert organized meetings at the Salmagundi Club for ...

, and elsewhere.Judy Colbert, ''Maryland and Delaware off the Beaten Path: A Guide to Unique Places'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010), p. 174. Her husband established the Perna Krick & Reuben Kramer Fellowship in her memory, an annual scholarship awarded to a student at the Rinehart School of Sculpture. He also donated their house/studio to MICA, which is used to house visiting artists.

Selected works

* ''Baby Faun'' (1929, bronze),

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 ...

. * ''Young Siren'' (1937, bronze), Children's Room,

, Baltimore, Maryland. * ''Serenity'' (1939). Exhibited at the

. * ''The Power of Communication'' (1939, wood bas relief), U.S. post office, Pocomoke, Maryland. * ''Bust of

Marian Anderson Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to Spiritual (music), spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throu ...

'' ( 1954, terra cotta),

Jewish Museum of Maryland The Jewish Museum of Maryland is located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The museum tells the story of the American Jewish experience in the city of Baltimore and throughout the US state of Maryland. Description The museum is one of the c ...

, Baltimore. * ''Survivor of the Orkney Queen'' (1956, painting),

. * ''Lowenstein Memorial Sundial'' (1974, bronze),

Cylburn Arboretum __NOTOC__ Cylburn Arboretum ronounced sil·brn aar·br·ee·tm is a city park with arboretum and gardens, located at 4915 Greenspring Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland. It is open daily excluding Mondays without charge. The arboretum began as the ...

, Baltimore, Maryland. A collaboration with her husband, Reuben Kramer. * ''Reuben and Perna Kramer'' (no date, painting), Jewish Museum of Maryland, Baltimore.Reuben and Perna Kramer
from SIRIS. Self-portrait with her husband and cat.

Selected works

References

Further reading