Mildred Lachman Chapin

1922 - 2019

CHAPIN, Mildred Lachman

was born on May 12, 1922 in Philadelphia. Her parents were both young refugees - Hannah Segal, from the Ukraine and Henry Rosenstreik Pollack, from Romania. She and her seven siblings grew up in Philadelphia's old Strawberry Mansion neighborhood, and she tap-danced from the age of five. She attended the city's prestigious public Girls' High. As top student she was awarded a full scholarship to the Univ. of Pennsylvania and studied economics, continued dancing and met her first husband, Alexis.

When they moved to Washington, D.C. with their two children, she performed in and headed the dance program at the YWCA. She began painting in 1955 but never abandoned her love of dance: her artwork is filled with rhythm and color. She lived outside the U.S. for most of the '60s, accompanying her diplomat husband. She continued to paint until a few months ago. She had art shows in Italy, France, Turkey, Washington D.C., Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Sedona and Tucson.

After earning a master's degree from American University, she developed a parallel career as an art therapist. She helped form and became a lifetime member of the American Art Therapy Association. Along with her private practice, she taught at several institutions, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Vermont at Montpelier and Prescott College. She published numerous articles and two books, Reverberations: Mothers and Daughters, and Haiku, Painted & Written.

She moved to Tucson in 2002. She showed at the former Gocaia Gallery, Northern Trust Bank, Liz Hernandez, Tucson Jewish Community Center and Tucson Museum of Art.

She is survived by her sisters, Bertie Dratch and Lillian Bergman; her brother, Solomon Pollack; her daughter, Ellen Cohen; her son, Roy Lachman and her grandsons, Joseph Lachman and Jesse Cohen.

Donations may be sent to the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, 125 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004. Arrangements by ADAIR FUNERAL HOMES, Dodge Chapel.