Ruth Greenberg

RUTH GREENBERG
Ruth Greenberg, loving mother, devoted grandmother, and good friend, passed away October 18 at age 93 at her home in West Los Angeles. Ruth was a creative spirit, an artist, a lover of nature, a staunch Democrat, and an enthusiastic and generous supporter of the arts and progressive political causes. Ruth was born in 1915 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Ben Cooperman and Ann Cohen Cooperman. In 1935 she married Mayer Greenberg of St. Paul. She was a graduate of the University of Minnesota. As an artist, Ruth's early work centered on wood and stone sculpture, and was included in two Walker Art Center regional sculpture exhibitions in 1945 and 1946. Ruth and Mayer moved to Los Angeles in 1947 with their two young sons, Daniel and Phillip. There she was forced to give up sculpture because of back problems. She turned her attention to oil painting and studied with the noted California artist Rico Lebrun. She also worked in wood cuts, pen and ink, and fabric, and experimented in many other media. In 1965 Ruth and Mayer were among the founding supporters of the Egg and the Eye gallery in Los Angeles, which eventually became the Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum. She delighted in passing on her interest in the arts to others. She was an enthusiastic mentor and for years volunteered at the Watts Towers. After her divorce in the mid-1960s, she embraced her love of the ocean and the outdoors by moving to Malibu. Soon thereafter, she and her sister-in-law, Jan Greenberg, opened the Tidepool Gallery in Malibu, with a focus on art, craft, and natural objects related to the sea. She developed a deep interest and expertise in shell-collecting, and in 1981 served a term as president of the Conchologists of America. Her curiosity and adventurous spirit led her on shell collecting expeditions to such far-flung destinations as the Pacific Islands, Japan, and Muscat Oman. A new species of shell was named in her honor. She loved the Pacific coast and was a dedicated beachcomber wherever she traveled. In the 1970s she purchased a second home in Trinidad, California, and spent long summers in the Eureka-Arcata area, where she came to be considered one of the locals. In the early 1990s she left the Tidepool Gallery, having turned her interest to fiber arts. Her miniature baskets, made of grasses she collected, treated, and wove, and integrated with driftwood she had collected, are in several museum collections and were featured at the Del Mano Gallery in Los Angeles and other galleries around the country. She sold every basket she put up for sale. She was a talented and innovative cook; her love of chocolate was well known. She was excellent with words and puzzles, and was a renowned Scrabble player. A lover of Native American art and culture, she assembled a small collection of baskets and dance rattles. She was a supporter of Reed College, where her son Daniel has long served on the board of trustees. The Reed College Chair in American Indian Studies was established in her honor. At the age of 81 she was thrilled by the birth of her granddaughter, Eliana. She delighted in accounts of Eliana's activities and relished the time they spent together. She is survived by her son Daniel Greenberg and his wife Susan Steinhauser, of Los Angeles; and by her son Phillip Greenberg, his partner, Annie Stine, and granddaughter Eliana Greenberg, of Berkeley. A private memorial is being planned. The family would be pleased, as would Ruth, if donations were made in her memory to either The Racine Art Museum, 441 Main Street, Racine, WI 53403; or the Northcoast Environmental Center, 1465 G Street, Arcata, CA 95521.