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Remembering Sculptor Gretta Bader

Gretta Bader (second from left) at the dedication of the Fulbright statue in 2002. (Photo by Russell Cothren, University of Arkansas. Used with permission.)
Gretta Bader (second from left) at the dedication of the Fulbright statue in 2002 at the University of Arkansas. (Photo by Russell Cothren, University of Arkansas. Used with permission.)

Gretta Bader, a former Art League instructor who was chair of the sculpture department from 1985 to 1989, died August 1 at age 83.

Gretta’s sculpture was in collections including the National Portrait Gallery and the Kennedy Center. Subjects for her sculptures included names such as Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, Claiborne Pell, and William Fulbright, the last of which she described as her most rewarding work in a 2002 interview with Pomona College Magazine.

“I wanted students not to be intimidated by the man, not to see him as remote—to know what a very intense human being he was and how much he liked students, how well he listened, how well he engaged them,” she said in the interview.

The Art League would like to send out its condolences and best wishes to all of Gretta’s family, friends, and students.

You can read Gretta Bader’s obituary on The Washington Post.

Bill Clinton speaks at the dedication of Gretta Bader's Fulbright statue in 2002.  (Photo by Russell Cothren, University of Arkansas. Used with permission.)
Bill Clinton speaks at the dedication of Gretta Bader’s Fulbright statue in 2002. (Photo by Russell Cothren, University of Arkansas. Used with permission.)

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