Dorothy Sturm (1910 – 1988) was an American artist and educator. She is known for her

medical illustration Medical illustration is the practice of creating illustrations or animations to visually represent medical or biological subjects that may be difficult to explain only using words. History Medical illustrations have been made possibly since the ...

s and her enamel work on metal. Sturm was born on August 2, 1910, in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1929 she moved to New York where she studied at the Grand Central School of Art and the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

. In New York she became interested in blood cells through her friend Dr. Florence R. Sabin. She studied biology at Columbia University and began creating medical illustrations. She provided the illustrations for the 1956 textbook ''Morphology of Human Blood Cells'' by

Lemuel Diggs Lemuel Whitley Diggs (January 8, 1900 – January 8, 1995) was an American pathologist who specialized in sickle cell anemia and hematology. Biography Diggs was born in Hampton, Virginia, but spent most of his life and did most of his work i ...

. In 1934 Sturm returned to Tennessee where she began her career at the Memphis Academy of Art. She was a faculty member until her retirement as a professor emeritus in 1975. In the early 1950s Sturm began working with enamel on metal. She fired her pieces at a high temperature, giving the surface a unique cracked surface. From 1934 through 1970 Sturm exhibited her work at the Betty Parsons Gallery. In 1956 her work was included in the exhibition ''Craftsmen in Contemporary Enamels''. In 1959 her work was included in the exhibition entitled ''Enamels'' at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts. Sturm died on March 9, 1988, in Shelby County, Tennessee. Her papers are in the

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

. In 1995 Sturm was honored by the ''Women of Achievement'' organization in Memphis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturm, Dorothy 1910 births 1988 deaths Artists from Tennessee 20th-century American women artists American women academics