Sandra Levine

When I walked into The National Academy in New York City Fall of 1967, I had been casting about for a new career.  Formerly, I had been a magazine editor.  My youngest son was going off to college next year and I knew I would be facing an empty nest.  The sculpture studio was large and inviting, and the life model was a muscular male in a classical standing pose.  Exquisite!!!  When I left that day, I went out, bought tools and an armature, and returned five days a week for the next whole winter.  The instructor invited me to be a monitor.  For sweeping the floor and taking attendance I received free tuition.  Thank you, National Academy, for the great honor and for the head start. That Spring I heard about an excellent sculptor from Russia who was giving lessons at The Sculptor Center on East 65th Street - Leonid Lerhman. Read more I studied with Leonid for the next five years and owe my sculpting career to him.  He was strict and demanding. "No more lunches with the ladies," he said emphatically in his thick Russian accent. The next step was a studio of my own.  I hired my own models, instructed students, and continued my own studies, this time with Paul Lucchesi at the Eastside Settlement House and a brief stint in Pietrasante, Italy at his summer school.  Then I started showing and selling my work. The Library at Lincoln Center was my first group show and sale - I was so nervous I couldn't even attend the opening! I exhibited outdoor shows at Gracie Square Park and West Hampton Beach.  I was Best in Show at The Hintersteiner Gallery, had one-woman shows at The National Arts Center, galleries In The East Village and P-town. My husband of fifty-six years and I became homesteaders in West Palm Beach ten years ago.  I have been teaching at The Armory in WPB  and The Boca Art School to some remarkable people with great potential.  I am constantly inspired working with them, and hope to pass on the passion and knowledge that others have given me.