Isabel Chicquor

Isabel Kate Chicquor
Chapel Hill
CHAPEL HILL— Isabel Kate Chicquor was born on July 6, 1943, in New York City and was the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Sydour Chicquor. She was raised in New York City (along with her late brother Bruce) where she studied at the Art Students League and attended The High School of Music and Art. She held a BFA '65 and MFA '67 from SUNY College of Ceramics at Alfred University and an MFA '95 in Imaging Arts from Rochester Institute of Technology. Isabel moved to Chapel Hill, NC, in 1976, and there she dedicated the rest of her life to her family, friends, University, art, and community.
Within a year of moving to Chapel Hill, Isabel joined the faculty of North Carolina Central University where she taught for the next thirty years, until she retired in 2007. She was highly respected and admired for her dedication, talent, compassion, and commitment to her students, to her teaching, and to the community. In the same year she joined NCCU she helped found, along with twelve other women artists, Center/Gallery, the first women's art cooperative in North Carolina. Their ten-year history now resides in the archives of Douglas College Library/Rutgers University.
From 1984 to the present Isabel focused on photography and taught foundation courses in drawing and ceramics. She had numerous solo shows and has exhibited regionally and nationally in invitationals and more than 40 juried exhibitions. In 2001 her photo-installation "Delirious Rhythm" opened at the Museum of Art at NCCU. That spring it traveled to New York City where it was exhibited at the Jazz Gallery in the West Village and was featured in Jazziz Magazine. As the recipient of national and regional awards in photography, drawing, and sculpture, her work can be found in numerous corporate and private collections. In 2003-2004 she was awarded a North Carolina Visual Artists Fellowship in Photography. In 2010 her show "Side by Side" at Through This Lens Gallery in Durham received critical acclaim, and several pieces still hang in the gallery.
Isabel served on the boards and committees of the Durham Arts Council, Durham Art Guild, Center/Gallery, and the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh. From 1984 to 1991 she organized and curated local, regional, and national exhibitions that brought the contributions of minorities into the public arena. In 1986 she received a grant from the NC Arts Council that helped support an exhibition and educational programming featuring the work of Romare Bearden. In 1989 she organized the exhibition entitled "Till Earth and Heaven Ring." The exhibition featured the contemporary work of Richard Mayhew and the historical ceramic work of "Dave," a black slave now recognized as the most accomplished African-American potter of the nineteenth century. In 2002 she won the Excellence in Teaching Award from her university and in 2005 was awarded the distinguished UNC Board of Governors award for Excellence in Teaching, a once in a lifetime achievement award.
Isabel's greatest joy was her family and friends. She is survived by her son, Daniel Mason Levitt and wife, Meleaha Phillips Levitt of Mebane; her daughter, Jessica Levitt Knorr and husband Jeffrey Robert Knorr of Lafayette, CO; and her three grandchildren, Sara Teagan Knorr, Mary Hollyn Knorr, and Eli Williams.
Isabel passed away on October 29 after a courageous nine-year battle with breast cancer. A memorial service to celebrate "Izzi's" life will be held Sunday, November 6, at 1:00 in the Doris Duke Center at Duke Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to: UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, CB#7295, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7295 or Residential Services, Inc., 111 Providence Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27514 (Memo: In memory of Isabel).