e. jean lanyon

American artist and poet, born 1935

BiographyBorn in Wilmington, Delaware in 1935, e. jean lanyon developed an early and keen interest in the visual and literary arts. Her poetry was first published at the age of 13, and she became a member of Delaware’s First State Writers in 1951. She received training in mechanical drawing in secondary school and an apprenticeship with the Delaware architect, Roscoe Cook Tindall, AIA. Additionally, she received invaluable support from her mentor, artist and poet Jeannette Slocomb Edwards.

Following graduation from Wilmington High School in 1953, lanyon attended Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont from 1954 to 1956. She continued her studies in fine art and illustration from 1956 to 1958 at Chouinard Art Institute (which later merged with the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, creating the California Institute of the Arts), studying with Donald W. Graham and John D. Wilson.

In late 1958, lanyon returned to Delaware where her engagement with the visual arts and literary communities deepened. She became an active member of the Rehoboth Art League, Chester County Art Association, Council of Delaware Artists, Eschaton Writers, and the Diamond State Branch of the National League of American Penwomen, among others, serving in leadership roles for many of these affiliations. Her drawings and paintings were featured in solo exhibitions at commercial galleries throughout Delaware. Additionally, she participated in numerous group exhibitions at art institutions throughout the greater Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions including the Philadelphia Art Alliance, Woodmere Art Museum, Delaware Art Museum, University of Delaware, and Corcoran Gallery of Art, among many others. From the late 1960s until 1974, lanyon studied art at the University of Delaware, and in 1974, she completed her bachelor’s degree in art from Goddard College with a culminating study of “line drawing as a universal language through history, technique, and art itself,” titled The Magic Language. Her additional graduate studies were conducted at Maryland Institute College of Art and Vermont College (now Vermont College of Fine Arts).

In 1970, lanyon’s first publication, The Myrno Bird, was released. Numerous publications followed throughout her career including The Rose Bush (1973), woman scrapbook (1979), the first of four poetry chapbooks, Fort Delaware Living History Coloring Book (1999), whisper campaign (2018), a good cup of coffee (2019), the olympic squirrel (2022), and whisperings (2022). Additionally, her illustrations appeared in numerous collections, periodicals, and anthologies including Viewpoint, A Delaware Sampler, New Space: New Time, Dreamstreets, Tangent, and Delaware Literary Review.

Throughout her career, lanyon has received numerous accolades for her poetry and visual art. In 1979 to 2001, she served as Poet Laureate of Delaware, and her tenure was dedicated to the broad celebration and appreciation of poetry throughout the state. Her dedication to sharing the arts was additionally demonstrated through the countless workshops and classes she conducted both in her own studio and at the Delaware College of Art and Design, Delaware Art Museum, Historical Society of Delaware, Wilmington College (now University), University of Delaware, and Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware, among many other community organizations. In 2000, lanyon received both a Delaware Division of the Arts Fellowship in Painting and a Governor’s Award for the Arts in painting and poetry, and her solo exhibition, New Works, was presented at the Mezzanine Gallery in the Carvel State Office Building in Wilmington. The Biggs Museum of American Art celebrated lanyon’s vibrant career in spring 2012 with the retrospective exhibition, As the Poet Paints: E. Jean Lanyon. Her works of art can be d in public, private, and corporate collections throughout the United States and abroad.

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