Brunswick: Jeana Dale Bearce Rakovan passed away on
April 8, 2017 at the age of 90. Jeana
was born in St. Louis, Missouri October 3, 1926. Daughter of Clarence Russell and Maria Emily
Dale. She moved to Brunswick, ME in
1957. Jeana was pre-deceased by her
first husband, George D. Bearce, Jr. in
1965. June 7, 1969, she married Lawrence Francis
Rakovan. The couple had 3 children
Barbara, Luke and Francesca.
Jeana
studied classical dance as a child and was accepted into the Corps de Ballet of
the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra where she danced for many years. Jeana was a very accomplished pianist and
harpsichord player. She had a French,
double manual harpsichord on which she "decorated” the sound board with a
school of 12 Mackerel swimming amongst a garden of flowers and insects. She studied at St. Louis School of Fine
Arts. She received her BFA from
Washington University in 1951. Her MA
from New Mexico Highlands University, 1954.
Jeana taught
art at the Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis. She started the art department at the University
of Maine in Portland, ME in 1965. With
the merger of the University of Maine Portland and Gorham State College the
school became University of Southern, Maine.
Jeana rose to the level of Professor.
She retired in 1996. She started
teaching Western Art History and studio Art, drawing, design, and
printmaking. Throughout her career, she
also taught oil painting, watercolor, encaustic painting, all the intaglio
printmaking types and all relief printmaking methods.
Jeana
exhibited widely throughout the U.S.A. and abroad, including over 40 one-man
shows, four of them in India, one in Paris. Her work has been shown in major
exhibitions including Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Bowdoin college Museum of
Art, St. Louis City Art Museum, Library of Congress, Philadelphia Print Club,
Springfield (Mass.) Museum, Birmingham Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock Art
Museum, de Cordova Museum, Farnsworth Museum, Portland Museum, St. Peters
Church Center for the Arts, New York, and Rotunda Gallery Union Theological Seminary,
New York.
She was
commissioned to paint "Indian Sand Paint” (mural) at New Mexico Highlands
University, seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (cross) Good Shepherd Church,
Brunswick, 14 Stations of the Cross, St. Charles Borromeo, Brunswick,
monumental Mary and St. Bartholomew, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, "The Search for
Truth” mural, Bowdoin College (Library) and the official portrait of Athern
Daggett, past president of Bowdoin College and many more of paintings and
prints of her world travels.
Prizes: Putzel Purchase Prize of St. Louis City Art
Museum, two Fanie Cook Awards for future study in art, Dr. Glynn Rivers Award,
Ball State College, two Prix de Paris, Purchase Prize of Sarasota Art
Association, Seventh National Exhibit, Eight Artists of Maine, New York World’s
Fair (1964) and visiting artist and lectureships in India, Pakistan and U.S.A
under sponsorship of Fulbright, United States Education Foundation in India and
United States Information Service.
Jeana’s work in in the permanent Collection of St. Louis Art Museum,
U.S. Educational foundation, New Delhi India, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Cornell
University, California College of Arts and Crafts, Sarasota Art Association,
Bowdoin College, University of Maine Orono and Portland, Colby College and Bates
college.
Jeana’s
interest were very broad. She traveled
all over the world. She lived for a year
in Hyderabad, India. From there, she
traveled and painted in Southeast Asia.
Over the years, she and her husband Larry traced the paths of the
Ancient Silk Road from Xian China to Rome and Northern routes thru China to
Mongolia and thru the Caucuses. During these travels, she was drawing and
photographing the people, architecture, landscapes and studying the culture and
religions of the many countries. These
experiences lead to a host of art in all media including all mentioned above
plus mosaic, hooked tapestries, stain glass, ceramics and fresco.
Beyond the
professional achievements, Jeana was a kind, gentle soul with the strength of
Job. Wherever she globetrotted when she
crossed the bridge in Kittery, she sighed with excitement coming home to beautiful
Maine. She saw beauty wherever she
was. When a child in Nepal picked cockle
burrs from her skirt, Jeana was overcome with joy as she did a drawing. That happiness extended to a little dear
mouse, Frederick, (from the children’s book) who was found in our dog food bin
and who lived 9 years on her desk.
Her heart
was torn between Brunswick and Harpswell and Venice, Italy. The church of San Marco was the subject of
many prints and paintings. Her last trip
there, after ascending the long staircase, she saw "The Four Horses of St.
Mark” from the façade of the Basilica, she cried tears seeing such
loveliness. That enthusiasm was the
hallmark of her being. Whether she
experienced a great mountain range or a ladybug, a snow storm or peepers in the
spring, her heart was always filled with thanks. Jeana’s nighttime prayer always started with
"Thank you God for a beautiful day”.
She is
survived by her husband, Lawrence Rakovan with son Luke Rakovan and two
daughters, Barbara and Francesca and several grandchildren.
A private
Celebration of Life will be scheduled for this Summer.
Memorial
donations may be made to the Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine, P.O. Box 1807,
Auburn, Maine 04211. Arrangements are by Stetson’s Funeral Home 12 Federal St.
Brunswick where memorial condolences may be expressed at
stetsonsfuneralhome.com