Lucia Fairlie Pulgram

1925 - 2020

PULGRAM(FAIRLIE), Lucia Lucia Walker Fairlie Pulgram, a third generation Atlantan, died peacefully in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 5, 2020, with her husband of 68 years and her four children by her side. She was 94. Born on March 27, 1925, to Lucia Cabiness Peeples Fairlie and Andrew Miller Fairlie Sr., Lucia attended E. Rivers School and graduated from Washington Seminary in 1942. She received her B.A. degree magna cum laude in 1946 from Randolph Macon Woman's College in Virginia, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She continued studies at the Art Students League in New York City and then in Europe, mostly in Paris where she attended the Julien and Grande Chaumiere Academies. She also studied art at Georgia State University, Atlanta College of Art and Emory University. Lucia cared deeply for art, music, and poetry. She was known for her authenticity, grace, and expressivity in words and correspondence. Intensely curious and open to the world around her, she cherished nature, creativity, and learning. Lucia greatly loved her husband, Bill, and was devoted to her family and friends. Above all, Lucia will be remembered for her kindness and ability to share the beauty and wonder she perceived in all things - grand and small. Lucia worked with oil, acrylic, water-color and photography. She was a gifted curator who championed local artists, founding the Art Gallery at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta in 1965 and presenting over 100 exhibitions by avant-garde artists at a time when there were only a handful of galleries in Atlanta. She planned, selected, installed and documented corporate art collections and commissioned major works throughout the South and Midwest United States. Lucia was an ardent supporter of civic causes. She served on the Board of the Arts Festival of Atlanta for 22 years, where as Chair of its Art Placement Committee from 1969-1980, she placed Festival Purchase Awards in public spaces, including the Mayor's and Governor's offices, schools, and libraries. Lucia was a board member of the League of Women Voters, Atlanta Wider Opportunities for Women (AWOW), Atlanta Music Club, Atlanta Pro-Mozart Society, and member of the Greater Atlanta Arts Council, the Atlanta Symphony Associates and the committee of special collections at the Emory Library. Like her mother, she was a 50-year member of the Every Saturday History Club of Atlanta, Ga., a women's literary society founded in 1894. Lucia was preceded in death by her twin sister Margaret Carrick Fairlie-Kennedy, her brother Andrew Miller Fairlie Jr. and her sister Lillian Howard Fairlie. She is survived by her husband William Leopold Pulgram and their children: Lucia Deirdre Pulgram-Arthen, husband Andras Corban-Arthen, of Worthington MA; Laurence Fairlie Pulgram, wife Kathleen Ann Murray, of Mill Valley CA; Anthony Ernst Pulgram, partner Sunita Mohabir, of New York, NY; and Christopher Leopold Pulgram of Atlanta, GA; four grandchildren: Donovan Andru Arthen, Lucia Isobel Arthen, Daniel Laurence Murray Pulgram and Mara Lilli Murray Pulgram; and sisters-in-law: Mary Ann Fairlie, of Saint Petersburg, Fl; and Frances McSparran, of Belfast Ireland. On Saturday, March 7th, at 2 PM, there will be a memorial service at the Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 1025 Mt. Vernon Highway N.W., Sandy Springs, Georgia, 30327, to celebrate her life. All friends are warmly invited to attend the service and reception immediately following. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to MOCA GA, the Peachtree String Quartet, or The Mountain Learning and Conference Center Endowment Fund (Highlands, North Carolina) in honor of her love for art, music and nature.