Born in 1942, Mary Offermann grew up in California and studied English and Dramatic Arts at UC Davis. She subsequently lived in San Francisco, Chicago, Mbambara (Tanzania), Boston, and Philadelphia before moving back to California with her husband, Lance Sims. They raised three children, and now, during the Covid-19 pandemic, all are living on a family compound together with three grandchildren.
For the past twenty-one years she has spent summers painting at her studio in La Montagne Noire, France, while finishing the work in Santa Cruz. She is fascinated by the play of light and shadow, both visually and metaphorically.
Mary’s Artist Resumé
Education
AB, University of California, Davis, California 1964
Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1970
Masters’ Workshop with Wayne Thiebaud, Institute of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1991
Gallery Affiliations
Artisans’ Gallery, Santa Cruz, California
Big Sur Gallery, Carmel Valley, California
Enso Gallery, Half Moon Bay, California
Williams Gallery West, Oakhurst, California
Many Hands Gallery, Capitola, California
Galeria Tonantzin, San Juan Bautista, California
Ventana Gallery, Ventana at Big Sur, California
Ainsi Passe Le Temps… (Galerie Didier Réby), Revel, France
Selected Private Collectors
Suzanne Arms, Durango, Colorado
Kate Bowland, Santa Cruz, California
Dick and Dean Bunce, Berkeley, California
Arlette and Francis Delbarre, Paris, France
Nelly Delouya, Stamford, Connecticut
Paulette Frankl, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Francis and Joëlle Gobin, Carcassonne, France
David Klemp, Columbus, Ohio
Elizabeth Moller Lindsley, Berkeley, California
Marc Mahoux, La Bastide Esparbaïrenque, France
Margaret Margulies, Santa Cruz, Costa Rica
Anna Oneglia, Arcata, California
Timothy Pereira, Santa Cruz, California
Gwen Rankin, Gaujan, France
Didier and Anne Réby, Mireval-Lauragais, France
Anina van Alstine, Santa Cruz, California
Egbert van Dam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Zee Zaballos, Santa Cruz, California
Selected Exhibits
* 1988-2019 Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County, Open Studios, Santa Cruz, California
** 2019 R. Blitzer Gallery, 20/60: Women Artists in their Prime, Santa Cruz, CA
** 2009 Artisans’ Gallery, French Mountain Villages, Santa Cruz, California
** 2008 L’Association La Muse pour la Culture et la Creation en Cabardès et Montagne Noire,
Expo d’Art, Labastide Esparbairenque, France
** 2007 Galeria Tonantzin, Seasonal Light, San Juan Bautista, CA
** 2006 Santa Cruz Art & History Museum, Pleine Aire Affaire, Santa Cruz, CA
** 2005 Pajaro Valley Art Council Gallery, Pastel: the Eloquent Medium, Watsonville, CA
** 2004 Enso Gallery, Spring and Summer in France, Half Moon Bay, CA
** 2003-20 Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office, Santa Cruz, CA
** 2002 Williams Gallery West, A Soft Beauty, Oakhurst, CA
** 2002 Santa Cruz Community Credit Union, Joy of Landscape, Santa Cruz, CA
** 2001 Musique et Culture en Cabardes, L’Art Sous les Chataigniers, Roquefere, France
*** 2001 Galerie Didier Reby, Les Pastels de Mary Offermann, Castelnaudary, France
*** 1999 Office de Tourisme, Grands Bouquets de Californie, Castres, France
** 1998 Salle d’Exposition, Trois Pinceaux pour Un Expo, Lastours, France
*** 1998 Maison Fuzier, Paysages et Natures Morts, Mazamet, France
*** 1998 Galerie Didier Reby, Les Pastels de Mary Offermann, Castelnaudary, France
** 1997 Galeria Tonantzin, Women In May, San Juan Bautista, CA
* 1997 Chaminade Conference Center, Santa Cruz, CA
***1996 Galeria Tonantzin, Winter Fruits, San Juan Bautista, CA
***1996Villa Montalvo: California Center for the Arts, Autumn in Labastide, Saratoga, CA
** 1996Villa Montalvo: California Center for the Arts, Moore Art II, Saratoga, CA
***1996 Le Mairie, Oeuvres en Cours, Labastide Esparbaïrenque, France
***1995 Santa Cruz Art Center, India Joze, Springtime in France, Santa Cruz, CA
***1995Villa Montalvo: California Center for the Arts, Fruits and Flowers, Saratoga, CA
***1995 Galeria Tonantzin, Recent Works, San Juan Bautista, CA
* 1994 Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Poets & Painters II, Karen Nagano, juror, Carmel, CA
***1994 Santa Cruz Art Center, India Joze, Room With A View, Santa Cruz, CA
** 1994 Galeria Tonantzin, Women to Watch For, San Juan Bautista, CA
** 1994 Primal Visions Gallery, A Room of One’s Own, Santa Cruz, CA
* 1994 Santa Cruz Art League, Points of View, Main Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA
***1993 University of California Santa Cruz, Cardiff House Women’s Center,
Flowers and Fruits: Musings on Demeter and Persephone.
** 1993 Los Gatos Company, In Celebration of the Day of the Dead, Los Gatos CA
* 1993 Gavilan College Gallery, Our California Heritage: Our Roots Entwined, Sylvia Rios Metcalf, juror, Gilroy, CA
* 1993 Santa Cruz Art League, Poets and Painters I, Main Gallery, Santa Cruz
***1992 Santa Cruz Art Center, First the Fruit and then the Flower, Many Hands
** 1992 Santa Cruz Art League, Personal Heroines, Ella Grey Gallery
* 1991 Fort Mason, Women on Women, Bayfront Gallery, San Francisco, CA
** 1991 Santa Cruz Art League, Hearth and Home, Da Vinci Gallery
* 1991 University of California, Santa Cruz, Exemplary Contempo’ry,
Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, Peter Boswell, Walker Art Center, Juror
** 1990 Santa Cruz Art Center, India Joze, Interiors, Santa Cruz, CA
***1989 Louise Cain Gatehouse, UCSC, Apples Only, Santa Cruz, CA
** 1989 Bulkhead Gallery, Tech-noh-logical Invitational, Santa Cruz, CA
** 1988 Santa Cruz Art Center, India Joze, Love & the Goddess, Santa Cruz, CA
** 1988 Pajaro Valley Arts Council Gallery, Mixed Greens, Watsonville, CA
***1987 Santa Cruz Art Center, India Joze, Apples, Santa Cruz, CA
* 1987 Third Clemson National Print & Drawing Exhibition, Clemson, North Carolina.
* 1987 Santa Cruz Art Center, India Joze, Squid Art ’87, Santa Cruz, CA
* 1986 Pacific Art Guild, Annual Fall Open Juried Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA
* 1986 Sacramento, California, California Works, Award of Merit
***1986 Santa Cruz Art Center, India Joze, Discover the Dark, Santa Cruz, CA
***1984 Santa Cruz Art Center, India Joze, Honeybees, Santa Cruz, CA
* Juried Exhibits
** Invitational Exhibits
*** Solo Exhibits
Selected Articles and Reviews
Fellous, Andre, “En revenant de l’expo…” L’Indépendant, 26 mai 1998.
“Mary Offermann chez Reby,” Midi Libre, 19 mai 1998
“Mary Offermann expose chez Reby,” L’Indépendant, 19 mai 1998
“L’Invitee du Jour,” La Depeche, 18 mai 1998.
Gelhaus, Anne, “Offermann Paints to Match the Seasons,” Saratoga News, February 8, 1995.
Gelhaus, Anne, “Seasonal Offerings,” Los Gatos Weekly Times, February 1, 1995.
Davis, Debora, “Art That Feeds the Soul: Recalling Ancient Images and Stories,”
The Doula, March 1991.
“Artists Open Studios,” City on a Hill Press, October 3, 1988.
Spafford, Roz, “Earthy Art,” The Sun, September 24, 1987.
Cardella, Joe, Editor, “Moon Meadow,” Art/Life, Volume I, No.10, Oct./Nov., 1981.