Elizabeth Lenci-Downs (1933 - )

A talented and recognized painter and writer who has settled in Fountain Hills, Arizona, Elizabeth was raised in Virginia, Minnesota, Iron Range country where as a young child she wrote short stories, poetry, and began painting—her paintings on display in school corridors.  One essay took second place in a state contest for the soon-to-be formed Quetico National Forest.  Leaving Minnesota for a university degree in history, she went on to earn another in education and psychology, married Floyd L. Downs, raised a family, and became a teacher.  During her undergraduate years she had taken classes from sculptor and friend John Waddell and spent weekends in self-study at the Chicago Museum of Art.  While teaching, she studied with Earl Pierce, Berkeley, California, a disciple of Hans Hoffman.

It was a cloudy day in San Francisco, April 1989 when something told Elizabeth she had to paint full time.  By June she had moved to the sunny skies of Arizona, enrolled in doctorate studies at Arizona State University, and was painting—waiting for her husband to follow.  After exhibits came commissions.  Her work is now in private collections in the United States and Canada.

In the summer of 1995 Elizabeth began 5 years of research for her first historic novel I Heard My People Cry now in Second Edition, the true story of an Arizona friend who had escaped from Ukraine, Russia during World War II.  Her second book was published in 2003: 6 Girls on a Hoot, Yellowstone National Park-1926 the unabridged diary of her Norwegian mother’s adventures.  A collection of short stories, essays and poetry is ready for publication and Elizabeth is completing “Domenico” her second historic novel.  This one about an Italian ancestor.

When the sun rises over the Superstition Mountains outside her window Elizabeth will be found at work at desk or studio easel, where a painting of her grandchild is waiting.  Beside her, a curl of ivory fur with plume tail and brilliant blue eyes greets visitors, Karuna, their Balinese.

Honors:

·         Selected for the National League of American Pen Women

·         Woman of the Year in Fine Arts Maricopa County,  Arizona for mentoring women and her efforts against racial discrimination—1995

·         Selected as a juried member of the esteemed Arizona Artists Guild—1998

·         Seven one-woman shows in California and Arizona

·         Chosen for a solo exhibition at the opening of Frank Lloyd Wright’s remodeled Gammage Center for the Arts, at Arizona State University, Tempe

·         Invited by AZ Governor for Solo exhibition for the International Women’s Day, Phoenix, featuring Hillary Rodham Clinton,  First Lady, on her return from China.