© Estate of the artist. Photograph and digital image © Delaware Art Museum. Not for reproductio…

Evelynne B. Mess Daily

American printmaker and educator, 1903–2003

BiographyActive in Indianapolis art circles in the mid-20th century, Evelynne Daily (1903–2003) worked as an etcher, painter, teacher, and organizer. She served as Director of the Brown County Art Gallery Association (1962–1964; 1969–1971) and as president of the Indiana Federation of Art Clubs (1967–1969). From 1940 to 1960, she taught painting and printmaking at the Oxbow Acres Summer Art School. Daily married painter George Jo Mess in 1925, and they shared a studio in Indianapolis. Raised there by musician parents, she showed early musical ability but was determined from childhood to become an artist. At twelve, she earned a scholarship to the John Herron Art Institute, studying with illustrator Frederick Polley. After a year (1921) at the Butler Art Institute, she returned to Herron to complete her teaching certification. She then taught at Manual Training High School and led evening classes at Herron. As a class assistant to William Forsyth, she met Mess.

Sources include:
Judith Vale Newton and Carole Ann Weiss, Skirting the Issue, pp. 93-97
Peter Falk, Who Was Who in American Art

Person TypeIndividual

Terms