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Ann Sperry
Ann Sperry (1934-2008) was a sculptor and multimedia artist who was best known for her welded and painted steel sculptures.

Early Life
Ann Sperry was born Ann Samols Gresser in 1934 in the Bronx, New York. Her parents were both Jewish immigrants. Her father was a poet who published in Yiddish newspapers. Her mother was a trained seamstress, who immigrated to the United States from Poland. Sperry attended New York City’s High School of Music and Art. Additionally, she studied at the Art Students League of New York. Sperry attended Sarah Lawrence College where she studied under the modern sculptor Theodore Roszak (artist). Throughout her career, Sperry lectured and taught at various universities including: Harvard, Yale, Boston Museum of Fine Arts School, and the University of Vermont.

Artwork and Exhibitions
Ann Sperry is well known for creating painted, welded steel sculptures. Sperry was influenced by the welded steel sculptures of David Smith (sculptor), the Feminist art movement in the United States, and Jewish culture. Using abstract and colorful forms, Sperry challenged the nature of the metal she worked with by creating ephemeral sculptures that resembled line drawings. Unlike David Smith's sculptures, Sperry's were always grounded in explorations of herself, her identity, or a narrative quality. In the 1978 issue number 4 of Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics, Sperry published a short article about women role models. Initially, Sperry was reluctant to write an article, because she couldn't think of any women who had inspired her. However, with the help of the collective, she recognized that her mother significantly influenced how she worked. Ann and her mother would go to look for fabric bargains, finding hidden gems in leftover fabric pieces. Her other would then transform the pieces into clothes for Ann and her brother, in what Ann saw a magical way. Sperry approached her own art in a similar way: collecting pieces of metal to be transformed into art.

Sperry's sculptures in the 1970s often were sexual in nature. Sperm, eggs, breasts, and penises were abstractly depicted

Other themes in Sperry's work include gardens and Jewish themes. In 1980 she received a commission In 1997 and 1999 Sperry created two works titled L'Chaim: Kiddush Cup and Miriam's Cup, which referenced sacred Jewish ritual objects and women in the Torah.

Over the course of her 40 year art career, Sperry had over 30 solo exhibitions. In 1960, Spiral Gallery in Boston gave Sperry her first solo exhibition. In 2003, the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion hosted the retrospective exhibition Thirty Pieces/Thirty Years: Sculpture by Ann Sperry which was curated by Laura Kruger. “The presentation explores the relationship between the artist’s feminism, her innovative technique in welded steel, and her Jewish identity and heritage.”

In addition to sculpture, Sperry created jewelry, artist books and public art. In 1990, she won the commission to create a 334 foot sculptural fence titled Seattle Garden for Seattle City Light’s Union Street electrical substation.

Late Career
Ann Sperry served on the boards of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and the Sculpture Center. Her artwork is in the collection of museums including: Storm King Art Center, the Everson Museum, Tel Aviv Museum, and the Getty Collection. She passed away on November 27, 2008.