Lee Weiss

On November 26, 2018, Lee Weiss died peacefully at home with her family by her side. Born in 1928 in CA, she lived in Madison, WI since the early 1960s, where she built a career as an internationally recognized watercolor artist. She was a Dolphin Fellow of the American Watercolor Society, member of the National Watercolor Society, and past president of the Watercolor Honor Society. Recognized by the watercolor community, she earned the
Watercolor Honor Society Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 and Wisconsin Visual Art
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, in addition to multiple other awards and honors.

Known for her innovative ability to capture and interpret the spiritual qualities of nature
within the watercolor medium, she translated her respect and intense appreciation of nature
into her art. Breathtaking visions were depicted within her work, from small portraits to
monumental presentations, every detail imbued with a sense of purpose. Her inspiration
emerged from world-wide travel as well as her beloved neighborhood park, Hoyt Park, just
steps from her front door. She defined her vision thus: "If I can't find some mystery, something
that moves me, then I have just done an illustration, not a painting. The paintings that really
thrill me are those that leave a lot unsaid, but there's a presence..."

Lee Weiss built a global reputation for her adventurous use of watercolor, all the while
participating in major American watercolor competitions from the 1960s to late 2010
accumulating multiple awards along her journey. She was a long time exhibiter with the Fanny
Garver Gallery in Madison, The Franz Bader Gallery in Washington DC for over twenty years,
Addison/Ripley Gallery, Washington, DC, Gallery Madison 90 in NYC as well as others
nationally and internationally. Her pieces reside in numerous museum and corporate
collections, including the Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art, The National
Museum of Women in the Arts. The National Air and Space Museum, The Phillips Collection of
Washington, D.C., Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI, Chazen Museum of Art,University of Wisconsin-Madison, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI, and the Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI.

Her recognition as an artist never surpassed her reputation as a beloved family member and
friend. Most of all, she was recognized as the 'master of holidays', 'chef extraordinaire', and
'champion hugger' by family and friends, who commonly found her house to be the
cornerstone of gatherings.

Lee Weiss is predeceased by her husband, Leonard Weiss; and daughters, Janet Weiss and
Martha Weiss Figueroa. She is survived by daughters, Meg Weiss Rivera of Connecticut, and Jo Weiss, of Washington, DC; and by six grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Friends and community members are encouraged to make donations in Lee's honor to the
National Museum of Women in the Arts, online or by post to NMWA, PO Box 120, Merrifield, VA 22116-9640, PLATO Madison, info@platomadison.org., or Friends of Hoyt Park.

A memorial has been set for January 11, 2019, at the First Unitarian Meeting House, 900
University Bay Drive, Madison, Wisconsin beginning at 5pm, reception to follow.

Cress Funeral & Cremation Service
3610 Speedway Road, Madison
608-238-3434