American 1941 - 2014

Nel Ivancich was born in Salt Lake City in 1941.  She was a painter of color field abstractions.  Don Olsen, a foremost Utah painter, was her instructor at Jordan High School.  Ivancich said “I appreciated his enthusism for art and his ability to encourage confidence in his students.” She studied at Chouinard Institute of Art in Los Angeles.  She earned her BFA in 1985, and her MFA in 1987 from the University of Utah.  Ivancich said about her education “Professors Tony Smith, Sam Wilson, Bob Kleinschmidt and Doug Snow provided a quality mix of instruction, humor and example during a particularly energetic time in the Art Department, when Dr. Robert “Bob“ Olpin presided as Dean.” She was life-long friends with Cathy Pardike, Lee Deffebach, Susan Slade and Carolyn Coalson.  She said they “shared my enthusiasm for abstract art and artists and, even though three of us have since left Utah, we maintain contact and friendship.”