Sydney Glen Fossum

Sydney Glen Fossum (1909 - 1978)
"Corner Grocery"
Serigraph,ca. 1961
LFAC #170

Biography

Sydney Glen Fossum was born November 18, 1909, in Aberdeen, South Dakota, to George F. Fossum, an architect, whose father had emigrated from Christiania (Oslo) in 1868. His mother, Olava Korsedahl, had come to the area from Stranden, near Alesund, Norway, as a child. Fossum received his BFA at the Minneapolis School of Art. He also studied at the Art Student League in New York City and the University of Michoacana in Mexico.

Fossum was active as an artist, illustrator, teacher and also political and social radical, especially in the 1930’s. He taught at the Minneapolis Art Center in 1934 and again in 1945-1950, and later at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN. In 1941, he taught at the Duluth Art Center and was director there from 1960-1962. He also taught at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 1950-1955, and the Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA during summers, 1953-1957.

He was active in the Minnesota Artist’s Union of which he was a founder. He also held high offices in the Minnesota Artists Association and Artists Equity. In addition, he was heavily involved in the federal art programs, such as the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), from 1933 to 1943. He defied regulations in these programs resulting in an indictment which was ultimately dropped and for accepting payment for work which was submitted but had been done outside the period for which payment was claimed. In the latter case, he was acquitted after bringing evidence that what he did was common practice in the program. He served as artist for the Minneapolis Civil Defense Council in 1942 and was in the army in France and Germany, 1943-1945. He lived in Minnesota until the 1970’s when he moved to California. He died in San Francisco, CA, February 23, 1978, and his ashes were interred in the family plot in Aberdeen, SD. He and his wife, Bunny, had no children.

Fossum exhibited frequently in Minnesota but in other states as well. Since he was equally adept in oils and watercolors, and created both drawings and prints, he often exhibited and received awards in multiple categories. His works are represented in the Museum of Modern Art, NY; the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA; the Newark Museum, Newark, NJ; the Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE; the Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA; and, in Minneapolis at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Walker, and the Weisman Museum of Art at the University of Minnesota. His illustrations appeared in several books and magazines during the course of his career. Most recently in 2000, a work by Fossum was included in the exhibit, "Paintings by Minnesota Norwegians, 1870-1970" sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society at the James J. Hill House in St. Paul, MN.

Sydney Glen Fossum (1909 - 1978) "Power Plant" Serigraph (Silkscreen),ca. 1953 LFAC #131

Fossum is represented by a file in the Manuscript Collections of the Archives of American Art. His papers are also in the archives of the Minnesota Historical Society and in the artists’ files of the Minneapolis Public Library, Special Collections. He was interviewed as part of the oral history project to interview Minnesota artists active in WPA art projects (Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library, 1974-1977).

There are two works by Fossum in the Fine Arts Collection, both serigraphs. These were purchased as a result of the College’s Fine Arts Festivals which were held in the late 1950’s and 1960’s. "Power Plant" (1953) was purchased in 1957 and "Corner Grocery" (1961) was purchased in 1961.

Ref: Syd Fossum: A Memorial (1909-1978). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, 1978; American Printmakers, 1880-1945: An Index to Reproductions and Biocritical Information. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1993; Nelson, Marion. Paintings by Minnesotans of Norwegian Background, 1870-1970. Northfield, MN: Norwegian-American Historical Association, 2000.

Updated 09/04/2006