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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, 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 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 ...

, 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 "Mike" Michael Robinson (1876–1952) was a Canadian-born 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, ...

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

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

, Small met Eugene Ludins, with whom she eloped to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. 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; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

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, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

in 1940. She died in

Kingston, New York Kingston is the only 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 grou ...

. 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