We found this beautiful painting yesterday at Goodwill. It was a good bargain, and we were drawn to the colors. We also loved the subject matter, Sauvie Island, a place we have spent a fair amount of time. What we didn't realize was the artist passed away last year. We searched for her online, and found an obituary.
Harriet Kaufman Levi passed away on Feb. 19, 2025. She died of natural causes during an afternoon nap. After graduating from Brandeis University, Harriet worked as a costume designer for a theater company in Boston. She married Don Levi, and they moved to San Jose, Calif., where Don had his first teaching job in philosophy at San Jose State. They adopted four children and later moved to Eugene and Portland.
After divorce, Harriet became active in the woman's movement. She worked for Head Start and later taught Childhood Education at Clark College in Vancouver. She started a Women's Studies program, teaching in it for the rest of her career. She married Charles Deemer in 1998.
When she retired, Harriet took up art, working in mixed media. She had solo and group shows in the Portland area, as well as in China and Korea with the Women's Caucus for Art.
Her online gallery is at
http://www.artistliszt.com/galleries/levi-h.html.
