Alexander Giampietro

Alexander Giampietro, 97, of New Haven, CT, formerly of Washington D.C., died, Wednesday, January 6, 2010, at the Mary Wade Home in New Haven, CT. He was the beloved husband of Daphne Phillips Giampietro, with whom he raised eleven children.

Alexander was born in Italy in 1912, the son of a violinist in the town of Marsicovetere. After attending Ginnasio Classico in Salerno, he immigrated with his family to the United States in 1928.

After graduating from Brooklyn College in 1936, and with the help of numerous fellowships and scholarships, Professor Giampietro studied art history at The New School, New York University, The New Bauhaus in Chicago, and at The Cummington School of the Arts, where he also taught. Professor Giampietro's extensive research and training culminated in an M.F.A. degree from The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1946. That same year he married Daphne Phillips of Portville, N.Y.

Professor Giampietro taught sculpture, design and art history at Brooklyn College before coming to the Washington area. At The Institute of Contemporary Arts he taught sculpture and ceramics and ran the gallery there before joining the faculty of Catholic University in 1950. He and Daphne settled in the Brookland neighborhood and raised eleven children.

In 1959, The United States Information Agency, in assembling a major exhibit of the "finest contemporary crafts", selected Professor Giampietro's work for a show which traveled throughout Europe. In the mid-sixties, under the Fulbright-Hays Act, Professor Giampietro was a consultant to the committee on Arts and Architecture for the purpose of evaluating applications for senior-level awards. In '71 - '72 he became a senior Fulbright scholar himself, researching the ceramic folk traditions of Southern Italy. In 1976 he was commissioned to make four ceramic chalices to be used in the celebration of mass at the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia. And for the Eucharistic Congress of 2000 in Washington, D.C., he exhibited a bronze Crucifix and a clay sculpture of Mary.

Throughout his years of teaching, Professor Giampietro had been extremely popular as a judge of shows and awards for other area schools, such as American University, George Washington University, Howard University, The University of Maryland, and The Corcoran Gallery. He has been popular as a speaker in places as diverse as The Norfolk Museum, The Rinehart School of Sculpture in Baltimore and Mount Senora College in Ladysmith, Wisconsin.

Professor Giampietro has chaired many area organizations, including The Society of Washington Artists and the CUA chapter of The American Association of University Professors. His artwork is included in collections at New York's Museum of Modern Art, Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, The Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, The Smithsonian Institution, the Vatican, The University of Notre Dame and The Catholic University of America.

His family will receive relatives and friends in The Wallingford Funeral Home, Wallingford, CT, on Sunday, January 10, from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m. A wake service will be held in the funeral home at 5 p.m. A mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday at St. Francis Church in New Haven, CT.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Mary Wade Home, 118 Clinton Street, New Haven, CT 06513.
www.wallingfordfh.com