Jean Stamsta was a renowned artist, particularly for her work with tubular weaving. Born in Monches, Wisconsin, Stamsta graduated from UW-Milwaukee in 1958 with a BA and a BS. Additionally, she also studied at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine, The Fiberwork Center for Textile Research in California, and the Banff Centre in Canada. Stamsta taught at many colleges, including UW-Milwaukee, Mount Mary, and Alverno Colleges, Northern Michigan University in Marquette, and the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.
Stamsta used a variety of mediums throughout her career and would often combine them to create mixed media pieces. Stamsta’s work was very colorful and vibrant, depicting landscapes and still-lives, with the combination of fabric, paint, mirrors, and glitter. She also worked with handmade paper and created many 3D works. Through tubular weaving, Stamsta was able to experiment with freestanding works and three-dimensional wall pieces. Stamsta lived in Hawaii for some time with her husband, and subject matter from the island, such as volcanoes, lizards, and tropical climates, can be seen in some of her works.
Stamsta had her work displayed in many different institutions including the Milwaukee Art Museum, the American Crafts Museum, the Arkansas Art Center, the Museum of Fine Arts in Columbus, Ohio, and the Cleveland Museum of Art. She also had work exhibited outside of the US in London, Switzerland, Hungary, and Finland. Stamsta was recognized by many institutions for her work and received awards from UW-Milwaukee, the Wisconsin Arts Board, Milwaukee Art Museum, Columbus (Ohio) Gallery of Fine Arts, and the Contemporary Crafts of the Americas. Along with her awards, Stamsta was the recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Craftsman Fellowship grant in 1974.
In the years preceding Stamsta’s death in 2013, she had many of her works donated to the Kohler Foundation, both paintings and fiber works in 2009. The Kohler Foundation donated parts of her collection to the Museum of Wisconsin Art, Racine Art Museum, Carroll University, Edgewood College, and Alverno College. Stamsta also helped the Kohler Foundation gift her artwork to Ripon College, UW-Milwaukee, Lawrence University, and many others. The UW-Eau Claire Permanent Art Collection received a mix of 25 paintings, fiber works, and mixed media pieces, gifted by the Kohler Foundation in 2014.
