Naomi Bossom

Obituary: Naomi Bossom: Artist, Author, and Teacher (1933-2025)

Naomi Bossom, of Lyndonville, Vermont, died peacefully in her home on July 18, 2025, of complications from stomach cancer. Born on August 26, 1933, to Irving and Tessie Feinfeld in Manhattan, Ms. Bossom was an artist and master printmaker. Finding her talent with line drawing while in elementary school, Ms. Bossom began her art training at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art. She then enrolled at Bard College and transferred to Columbia University, where she majored in studio art and minored in English literature, receiving her B.F.A. from the School of Fine Arts, and graduating first in her class. She later continued her studies with the German Expressionist George Grosz at the Art Students’ League in Manhattan. A long-standing member of the Society of American Graphic Artists, Ms. Bossom created hundreds of woodblock prints whose subjects conveyed a sense of physical joy, human affection, and kindness. She interlaced biblical, botanical, urban, and pastoral themes within her extensive works of art, which were exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States. Ms. Bossom’s work has also been featured in art, culture, and food publications, and in her own children’s book, A Scale Full of Fish, authored in 1979 and published by William Morrow & Co. Ms. Bossom taught art at the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights, and has been a visiting artist at colleges and schools in New York and throughout the United States. During the last 35 years that Ms. Bossom lived in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, she donated her time generously to the local art world, serving on the board of the Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild. She also served on the board of Beth El Synagogue in St. Johnsbury. Ms. Bossom was predeceased by her beloved brother, the sociologist Arthur Field.

She is survived by a large and beloved family across the country, which includes her life partner, Alvin Shulman, son Jack Bossom and his wife Joyce Bossom, daughter Lucy Demitrack and her husband Mark Demitrack, son Ciaran Bossom, stepdaughter Naomi Shulman and her husband Jonathan Fine, and stepson Matt Shulman. She is also survived by her cherished grandchildren: Margo Bossom, Molly Demitrack, Zoe Demitrack, Maia Demitrack, Carter Bossom, Ryder Bossom, Lila Shulman Templin, and Stella Shulman Templin. Donations can be made in her name to Beth El Synagogue in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.

Her graveside memorial service will be held on Sunday, July 20, at 11:00 a.m. EDT at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont.

Memories and condolences can be shared with the family at saylesfh.com