Arlé Sklar-Weinstein of Hastings passed away on Jan. 16, at age 91.
Arlé was an award-winning artist born in Detroit, Michigan, on Oct. 25, 1931, the first child of Philip and Ann Sklar. She grew up in an artistic family, with her father serving as principal bassist in the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Arlé was educated at the Parsons School of Design, the Museum of Modern Art (on scholarship), and the Albright Art School in Buffalo. She earned a bachelor’s degree in 1952 and a master’s degree in art education from New York University in 1957.
Arlé served as president of the Yonkers Art Association, and was a founding director of The Blue Door Art Center in Yonkers. She taught art for more than 19 years between the Hillside Elementary School in Hastings and later at the Marymount School and Ethical Culture School in Manhattan.
Arlé was selected for internationally juried shows throughout the United States, including at the West Broadway Gallery in SoHo and the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, and abroad at the Saki City Museum in Japan, as well as in Brazil, England, Spain, Denmark, and Canada.
Arle’s artwork was featured in Masters & Houston’s “Psychedelic Art” and Finley Eversole’s “Art and Spiritual Transformations”; in articles by Sandra Sider in Fiber Arts magazine and by Patricia Malacher in Surface Design journal; and on the covers of the SAQA Journal Magazine summer 2013 and The Blue Door Quarterly Journal 2014 and 2015. Her work was reproduced and reviewed in Arts Magazine in 1967, 1973, and 1975, and in Art News and Who’s Who in American Art.
Arlé was an early adopter of the new digital tools becoming available, and since 1995 pioneered a technique that employed photomontage transfers onto layers of cotton and organza, helping to create a new genre within the studio art quilt movement.
Arlé was predeceased by her husband, William Weinstein, after 49 years of marriage. She is survived by her children, Robert (Beth Bruno) and Shula (Eben Ross), and her grandchildren, Adam, Taija, and Avi. She was the aunt to Michael, Jeffery, and Jennifer; sister-in-law to Carol; and great-grandmother to Cerulian, who was born on the day she died.
A collaborative mother-daughter art show entitled “Thru Love/Thru Time” was planned prior to Arlé’s passing. In honor of her mother’s life and work, Shula has decided to continue with their plan. An exhibition is to be held at The Blue Door Art Center with an opening reception Saturday, Feb. 18, from 1-5 p.m. For more information, visit bluedoorartcenter.org.
A springtime celebration of Arlé’s life will be announced.
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