Nancy England at the Rochester Finger Lakes exhibition in 1956.
in the ORUUC Gallery THRU JUNe 23, 2024:
Artistic Creations of Nancy England
Former ORUUC member Nancy England was born in Rochester, NY, on February 20, 1937. She died at home in Oak Ridge on January 6, 2024.
Most of her paintings were done when she was younger, from her teens until her thirties. Once she settled into being a mother, she concentrated her creative talents in child rearing, as well as more diverse endeavors such as calligraphy, playing the cello, teaching music (including cello lessons, music theory, music ensembles, and more), writing music, knitting, and sewing. As we (her children) grew, she branched out into public life through serving on the Oak Ridge Board of Education, playing with the Oak Ridge Symphony, and creating and running several businesses, including Calligraphics, Money Go, and the Oak Ridge School of Music (which she later renamed Music Arts). Nancy was also a lifelong learner and took correspondence classes from the University of Tennessee and Roane State.
Nancy had little formal training in art and was more accomplished as a musician, but we were impressed with all the other things she could do. Whatever she set her mind to do, she could do it well. At one point, she decided to buy and renovate houses. She took a building trades class at the high school, and armed with that knowledge, proceeded to buy and renovate five houses in Oak Ridge, including the homes of Ruth Moore (her mother) and Alan England (her ex-husband). She also trained her daughters in the finer points of drywall installation and other construction techniques. She was a landlord for a few years, then sold the houses, moving on to the next challenge.
Following the retirement of her second husband, Brandt Kuperstock, the couple embarked on a series of adventures, exploring various corners of the globe. Her final work required her to turn her focus more inward. Brandt suffered a stroke in 1998 and was confined to a wheelchair. Nancy put aside many of her personal and professional interests, as well as dreams of traveling abroad more extensively with him, and cared for him until his death in 2015. At the start of the pandemic, Nancy suffered from a congestive heart condition that led to some reduced cognition and function, though she continued to fully enjoy living in her peaceful home (the same home that she and first-husband Alan built together in 1960!), along with her cat, and supported by doting daughters and friends, until her death in January 2024.
– Jean Reese, Julie England, Sandy England
Artistic Creations of Nancy England will be on display at ORUUC this spring through June 23, 2024.
The ORUUC Gallery is open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, and on Sunday mornings. For more information, call 865-483-6761 or email communications@oruuc.org.
A Village in the Alps, 1968, Oil on canvas
This painting was Nancy’s favorite and hung in an honored place in her bedroom for decades. Nancy and then-husband Alan England (along with Jean and Julie) spent the year of 1968 in Ismaning, Germany, while Alan worked in exchange with scientists in Munich. The family toured Europe during that year, where Nancy found much inspiration for her art, as well as her cooking. While in kindergarten, their daughters learned how to speak (and fight) like native German children.
“Uranus” from Gustav Holst’s The Planets, 1955, Oil on canvas
Nancy was 18 when she made this painting, and we think she must have been inspired by playing The Planets in one of the orchestras at the Eastman School of Music. At Eastman, she participated as a secondary student and had been taking cello lessons from professors there, beginning as a three-year-old starting out on piano in the preparatory school.
Smog over Shantytown, 1956, Rochester Finger Lakes Exhibition, Oil on canvas
Nancy spent time on the water in her parents’ boat, but she also spent time in the air. Dick Moore was an aerialist and made a business of taking photographs from the air. He would occasionally allow his daughter to sit in one of the seats of his two-seater airplane and she was able to get a view of the world that most people didn’t see in the 1940s and 50s.
Red Horizon, early 1970s, Acrylic on canvas
Nancy served on the Oak Ridge Board of Education in the 1970s and relished her work there. She was able to advance many of her initiatives and direct the Board toward more opportunities for women and alternative education. However, she often clashed with the superintendent, Ken Loflin, and a couple of the Board members. Painting centered her and gave her an outlet that she needed, especially once she quit smoking.
Rear Windows, 1956, Rochester Finger Lakes Exhibition, Oil on Wood
While at the University of Rochester, Nancy had a part time job in the hematology lab of the Atomic Energy Commission, drawing blood samples from people working with radiation at the university as well as a nearby hospital. She became skilled at her position, and earned the nickname: The Vampire. She met future husband Alan England while doing this work, as he was a physics doctoral student at the university.
Handsewn dresses for a daughter, 1968
Nancy sewed clothing for herself and her daughters for many years. She also took up knitting and made many sweaters, scarves, and hats for us all. She worked from patterns for the basic structure but always included personal touches. She would knit our hair into a sweater or combine unusual materials to create new shapes and patterns.