June Pryor

1933 - 2020

June Conte Pryor
June Pryor, loving wife and mother of two children, passed away on March 17, 2020 at Norwalk Hospital in Connecticut. She was 86.
June was born in New Haven, Connecticut on March 12, 1933, the daughter of John Conte and Elizabeth Prete. She received a Bachelor's Degree from Southern Connecticut State Teacher's College, and also served there as a Master teacher of Art Education in the West Haven school system. She received her Master's Degree in Fine Art from Columbia University.
On June 15, 1957, she married Louis Pryor of Charleston, South Carolina. After living in New Haven, Maine, New York City and Greenwich, they moved to New Canaan in 1971 and raised a family. They were married for 57 years, until Louis's death in 2014.
June's lifelong passion was her love of watercolor, and she took inspiration from the beautiful landscapes, seascapes, and innate beauty of her native Connecticut.
She was a prize-winning artist, selected as the winner in the watercolor category in the American Artist 70th anniversary competition for her painting "Golden Ruhl", which depicts a boat berthed in Darien's Five Mile River.
She also won the Cheseborough Ponds Award, the Edgar Whitney Memorial Award, the E.C. Potter Award, the Koenig Prize, and the Westport President's Award.
June's work was also selected for juried shows throughout New York and New England, including The Salmagundi Club, New York; The Hudson Valley Art Association; in the Distinguished Women Marine Artists Exhibition at the Mystic Maritime Gallery, CT; the Connecticut Watercolor Association; New Haven Paint and Clay, and New Canaan's Silvermine Art Guild. She also had a one woman show at The Greenwich Art Society.
Her work appeared shows at The National Arts Club, New York; The Bruce Museum, Greenwich; The Mark Twain Library Invitational, Redding; The Stamford Museum; The Discovery Museum, Bridgeport; Lockwood-Mathews Mansion, Norwalk; John Slade Ely House, New Haven; and the Westport Nature Center Invitational. Her paintings were acquired by major corporate and institutional collections including Philip Morris, Inc.; Marsh & McClennan; Fleet Bank; and many private art collectors.
She studied watercolor under notable teachers including Edgar Whitney, Barbara Nechis, Cesar Cirigliano, and Walter Dubois Richards of New Canaan.
In addition to painting, June had a lifelong love of music, photography, movies, travel, antiques, history, and cooking. She and Louis made memorable trips to Italy, Greece, Germany, France, England, Canada, and the American West.
June had a superlative ear for classical music. Raised in a musical household, she could readily identify every piece played on her beloved classical station. She made lifelong friends from all over the world on WetCanvas, an online community for fine artists, where she was remembered for her remarkable paintings, supportive feedback, and humor. She was a gifted and experimental cook, always looking to try new dishes from every corner of the world. Her family fondly notes that her lasagnas were legendary.
She believed in the words of Joseph Campbell – if you follow your bliss, the Universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.
She is survived by a son, John Davis Pryor, of Florida; a daughter, Ann Pryor-Miller of New York City; and a grandchild, Elizabeth Hazel Graham of Texas.