Marilyn Lysohir

Marilyn came to Arts/Industry to create elements for her Last Immigrant series. During her first residency, she worked in the Pottery learning how to construct molds. She cast pedestals, vases, flowers, hands, three-foot tall bears, and bear heads. Her work site became a popular stop on Kohler Co. tours as workers and the public alike readily identified with the imagery. Toward the end of her first residency, Marilyn created the original for the largest piece in the series, a seven-foot, eight-inch-tall bear which she hoped to cast in iron. After consultations with many company engineers, it was determined that the scale and complexity of the process would require Marilyn’s return for a second residency. During twelve weeks in 1989, the bear was completed with the help of many Kohler Co. employees. Marilyn Lysohir earned her B.A. from Ohio Northern University, Ada, and her M.F.A. from Washington State University, Pullman, where she has been an adjunct assistant professor since 1979. She has given lectures at the Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri and at the Los Angeles County Museum. Her work has been exhibited in the San Francisco Airport Exhibition Program and at the Asher/Faure Gallery, Los Angeles, California.