Hazel Salmi
{{Short description|American visual artist (1893–1986)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Hazel Gowan Salmi
| birth_name = Hazel P. Gowan
| birth_date = {{birth date|1893|11|11}}
| birth_place = Rockport, Mendocino County, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1986|4|22|1893|11|11}}
| death_place = San Pablo, California, U.S.
| education = California School of Design (BFA),
Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design,
University of California, Berkeley,
California College of Arts and Crafts
| occupation = Visual artist, arts administrator
| known_for = Founder of Richmond Art Center, painter, flower arranger, leather worker
| spouse = Martin Emanuel Salmi (m. 1916–1964; his death)
| children = 1
}}
Hazel Gowan Salmi (November 11, 1893 – April 22, 1986) was an American visual artist, educator, and arts administrator.{{Cite book |last=Hughes |first=Edan Milton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eC4jAQAAIAAJ |title=Artists in California, 1786-1940: L-Z |date=2002 |publisher=Crocker Art Museum |isbn=978-1-884038-08-2 |pages=972 |language=en |chapter=Salmi, Hazel}} She was a painter, as well as the founder and director of the Richmond Art Center.{{Cite book |last=Falk |first=Peter H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1MYRAQAAMAAJ |title=Who Was Who in American Art 1564–1975: 400 Years of Artists in America |date=1999 |publisher=Sound View Press |isbn=978-0-932087-55-3 |pages=2879 |language=en |via=Google Books}}{{Cite news |last=Bancroft |first=Ann |date=October 11, 1976 |title=She Turns People on the Arts |work=Oakland Tribune |issn=1068-5936}} She lived in Point Richmond, California for many years.
Early life and education
Hazel Gowan Salmi was born on November 11, 1893, in Rockport, an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rTPT9Zgv2jcC&q |title=Moore's Who is Who in California |date=1958 |publisher=John M. Moore |pages=640 |language=en |chapter=Salmi, Hazel Gowan |via=Google Books}} She was the child of Stella Bella (née Brown) and Ernest Albert Gowan.
She graduated from California School of Design (later known as San Francisco Art Institute) in 1912. She continued her arts education at Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design in San Francisco, the University of California, Berkeley, and at California College of Arts and Crafts (now California College of the Arts).
In 1916, she married Martin Emanuel Salmi. They had one son.
Career
In 1921, Salmi decided to move to the San Francisco Bay Area permanently, settling in Point Richmond, California. There were no art classes or resources, so she started to teach art classes. In 1936, Salmi began teaching classes under the Emergency Education Program (EEP) of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).{{Cite web |date=16 December 2019 |title=Featured Organization: Richmond Art Center |url=https://openspace.sfmoma.org/2019/12/featured-organization-richmond-art-center/ |access-date= |website=Open Space |publisher=SFMOMA |language=en-US}} In 1938, the City of Richmond granted Salmi an old Health Department building to use for classes and exhibitions.
In the 1940s, Salmi and other artists petitioned the City of Richmond to include a permanent art center as part of the new downtown Civic Center development. In 1950 Richmond Art Center became an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit.{{cite web |title=Richmond Art Center Profile |url=https://www.guidestar.org/profile/94-6104204 |accessdate= |website=GuideStar}} The Richmond Art Center's new facilities building opened in 1951,{{cite news |date=Dec 2, 1951 |title=Art Center Draws 22,000 in Richmond |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=34610395&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjI0NjI1NDYxOSwiaWF0IjoxNjAzOTA5NzE5LCJleHAiOjE2MDM5OTYxMTl9.f4U6bHWlG1Z7yDp5nMgOXFoJ7KGimxuIyDMCpTWam-w |accessdate= |work=Oakland Tribune |publisher= |via=Newspapers.com |issn=1068-5936}} as part of the downtown Civic Center development. From 1936 until 1960, Salmi worked as the founding director of the Richmond Art Center.{{cite news |last1=Doyle |first1=Bill |date=June 30, 1960 |title=House That Hazel Built' Honors Her |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/332076245/?terms=Richmond%2BArt%2BCenter |accessdate= |publisher=Oakland Tribune |issn=1068-5936}}
She died at age 92 in a convalescent hospital in San Pablo, California.
References
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Category:19th-century American women artists
Category:American art educators
Category:Artists from San Francisco
Category:American arts administrators
Category:People from Mendocino County, California
Category:People from Richmond, California