Helenn Rumpel

HELENN (JOHNSON) RUMPEL Helenn (Johnson) Rumpel, Santa Fe artist, (March 31, 1937-June 17, 2014) Santa Fe, was nationally and internationally known for her fiber art works. Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as a child she moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico with her parents, Paul and Olive Johnson. After graduating from Stephens College, MO, and the University of Wisconsin, she moved to Santa Fe. She is survived by two sons, Warren and Donna Rumpel of Spring, TX (Grandchildren: Austin, Hudson, Savannah, and Marvin) and Robert Wesley "Wes" Morris and Kathleen of Magnolia, TX (Grandchildren: Lauren and Stephanie). Helenn studied, exhibited and lectured at universities, art centers and museums. She had more than 50 one-woman exhibits to her credit, including the Art Institute of Chicago where her exhibit ran concurrently with a Georgia O'Keefe show. An upcoming major invitational solo exhibit April 15-July 16, 2015 will include over 50 pieces of her fine art stitchery, paintings and selected pottery in Gallery One at the Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock. Her work is archived in the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX and at Radcliffe College (now Harvard) as part of the History of Women in America collection. A stitchery is on permanent display at the U.S. Embassy in Prague. Several architectural stitcheries were installed in the Stephens College Eero Saarinen Chapel. In 2008, three pieces were accepted in the permanent collection of the 2008 Constance Howard Resource and Research Textile Centre, Goldsmith College, University of London, London, England. Her works were often juried and accepted in various National Embroiderers' Guild of America exhibits. She has cataloged over 1,850 art pieces. Since 1969, Helenn's active study of embroidery, textiles, oil painting and watercolor took her throughout the United States and abroad (Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, England, France, Italy, Sicily, Holland, Austria, Japan, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Greece, Yugoslavia, Canada, Mexico, Turkey, Russia, Spain and Portugal). She was an active participant in the World Craft Councils in Japan and Austria. One of her numerous trips to Russia included a 25-piece exhibit in 1988 at the American Embassy in Moscow at the invitation of Ambassador Jack Matlock and his wife, Rebecca. The exhibit, "Images & Icons," coincided with the celebration of the Russian Orthodox Millennium, 988-1988. Frequently her travels included giving educational lectures. During a 1998 tour of Sorrento, Italy (Santa Fe's sister city), Helenn gave a slide talk on the traditional and contemporary art of New Mexico. Eight times she spoke to textile guilds in the United Kingdom. In 2012 she was invited by the National Embroidery Guild of America to present a 15-piece exhibit/lecture program of her work for their 2012 National Seminar at Buffalo Thunder in the Santa Fe area. The Baker Gallery in Lubbock, TX, exhibited and sold her artwork for 25 years and sponsored five solo exhibits between 1974 and 1996. A few of her awards included the Governor's Award in 1990 as an "Outstanding New Mexico Woman in Art," a Thanks Be to Grandmother Winifred Foundation grant, the Outstanding Achievement and Exceptional Accomplishment Award from New Mexico Governor Richardson in 2006 and National Embroiderers' Guild of America honors. Her work was published in numerous periodicals and books. In lieu of all flowers, the family requests any donations be sent to the Carlsbad Foundation for the Helenn-Olive Scholarship Fund, 114 S. Canyon, Carlsbad, NM 88220. Phone 575-887-1131. Celebration Memorial service: Saturday, August 9, 2p.m. Holy Family Episcopal Church, 10-A Bisbee Court, Santa Fe, NM.