Deane Ackerman's personal works of art on display at Temple Sinai Jewish History Center in Sumter
A longtime Sumterite's personal works of art will be on display at the Temple Sinai Jewish History Center through July 27.
"Deane Ackerman: A Private Collection" is available for viewing during the center's regular hours at 15 Church St., which is from 1 to 4 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. General admission pricing to the center, which is run by the Sumter County Museum, applies.
Ackerman, a native of Illinois, attended Northwestern University for one year before continuing her college work as a sculpture major at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She was married to the late Roger Ackerman, who was instrumental in the establishment of the Jewish History Center, and they had three children and three grandchildren.
She has lived in Sumter since 1965 and is a charter member of the Sumter Artists Guild, which was founded in 1972.
Ackerman worked exclusively as a sculptor until 1980, producing many pieces now found in private collections across the country. Though she has worked in a variety of mediums, her focus for the past 30 years has been colored pencil drawing, for which she has won numerous awards, according to a news release.
In 1993, she became a member of the newly founded Colored Pencil Society of America. The original organization, started by a small number of artists, has now expanded to include about 1,800 members, with chapters in 10 other countries.
Each summer, the CPSA has an international exhibit in a different city in the U.S. Ackerman has been juried into the annual exhibit 11 times and has been an award-winning artist three times.
In January 2005, the Sumter Gallery of Art presented a Deane Ackerman Retrospective.