Louise Mundy

Louise Mundy was a versatile artist who forged her own career during the early 1900s. Mundy made her living as a teacher while devoting the rest of her time to creating and exhibiting her art. Mundy used a variety of mediums, but was best known for her watercolor still lifes. 

Louise Easterday Mundy was born on May 9, 1870, in Nokomis, Illinois. While growing up on her parents' farm, she developed an interest in art, then decided to pursue it as a career during the 1890s. Higher education was rare for women at the time, yet she attended three major universities to achieve her goal. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska, then studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and Stout Institute in Menomonie, Wisconsin, two prestigious art schools. 

Louise Mundy first taught summer classes at the University of Nebraska between 1902-1907 to support her education. She was then hired as a professor at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1909. She taught courses in drawing, watercolor, still life, and antiques, then later established a course in art education for public school teachers. In 1913, Mundy was hired as an instructor at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where she taught a variety of courses and managed the school's gallery.

In Nebraska, Louise Mundy's career as an artist took off. She joined the Sheldon Art Association and the Lincoln Artists' Guild, and frequently exhibited her work in their group shows. She mounted several major solo exhibitions at the University of Nebraska. Her watercolors and still lifes received high praise from critics and other artists. In 1937, Mundy spent a summer at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, where she learned weaving techniques from local "mountain" women who were experts in the old traditions. Upon returning to Nebraska, she began teaching those skills to students eager to learn craft techniques made obsolete by industrial technologies. 

Louise Mundy was listed in the 1936-1937 edition of Who's Who in American Art. The next year, she won an award in an exhibition held in Omaha at the Joslyn Memorial (now the Joslyn Art Museum). After retiring in 1941, Mundy continued to paint and exhibit her work in Lincoln and the surrounding region. She died ten years later on May 6, 1952, leaving behind a rich legacy through her impact on students and her prolific oeuvre of paintings, drawings and fiber works.