Estate Find

The Art

of

Dorothy Kucera, American (1928-2022)

Charcoal Drawing

Shoreline

We offer from the artist’s personal collection a charcoal drawing by the Texas author and artist Dorothy Kucera depicting old pilings on a shoreline with an island in the distance.

Signed "Kucera” at the lower right corner. The unframed drawing measures 13 1/4” in width and 10 3/8” in height with the acetate covered mat board measuring 20” by 16”.

Dorothy Cosper Kucera (1928-2022)

Dorothy Kucera was an author of seven books including “Simon Michael: The Man, The Artist, The Teacher” a history of the Rockport, Texas art colony and a noted newspaper columnist for thirty years with the Corpus Christi Caller Times beginning in 1980 with a column titled "Feedback" on the Op-Ed page.She enrolled in art classes at Del Mar College and told stories on canvas as well as paper. Her interest in art made her aware of the need for a facility where local artists could study and exhibit their work. When a new city hall was built, she worked long and hard to convince city officials that establishing an art center in the old city hall annex at 100 Shoreline on the Bayfront would be a better option than tearing the usable building down. She headed up efforts to raise $300,000 to convert the building for use by the art community. For her leadership role in this endeavor, in 1990 former Mayor Betty Turner commissioned Dorothy "Admiral of Corpus Christi Navy with all rights and privileges of said rank."

In 1991 The Caller-Times selected her as Newsmaker of the Year, and the Sales and Marketing Executives of Corpus Christi honored her with their "Distinguished Civic Service" award. In 1992 she received an award from the Associated Press for general column writing.

In 2004 she was selected for an Award of Excellence by the Dallas Press Club, which annually honored the best journalists from newspapers in six southwest states: Texas, Arkansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Louisiana.

In 1995 she was cited by the Corpus Christi Art Guild for service to fellow artists.

In 1997 Dorothy was selected by the YWCA to receive their Y Women in Careers Award. Referencing her achievements at the time, they called attention to the fact that she is an artist, columnist, and author.

As Director of Development of The Art Center from 1998 to 2003, she led efforts which raised an additional $3,600,000 for capital improvement and expansion of The Art Center.

The contributions of Dorothy Cosper Kucera were recognized by The Art Center of Corpus Christi with the Kucera Gallery.