Longtime champion of Denver arts Elizabeth Shwayder died on March 25, 2022 at the age of 99. A private service was held March 28 at Mt. Nebo Cemetery, with a celebration of life to be conducted at a later date. Arrangements were made by Feldman Mortuary.
A native of St. Louis, Mo., Mrs. Shwayder was born on July 26, 2022. Upon moving to Denver in the late 1940s, she immersed herself in art classes and teaching, and helped create the Community Art Gallery, Denver’s first nonprofit gallery. Many of her sculptures were in exhibitions in the US, England and Italy.
Mrs. Shwayder’s final show was “Welded and Fabricated Poetry: The Artistic Life of Elizabeth Yanish Shwayder,” at the Kirkland Museum, a 50-year retrospective.
She was heavily involved in the Greater Denver Council on the Arts and Humanities, the Denver chapter of Artists Equity and the Visual Arts Committee for the Colorado Centennial-Bicentennial Commission. Mrs. Shwayder also established Coats for Colorado.
“She was always wired to do good things in the world,” said her daughter, Mindy Yanish. “Always for Thanksgiving,” Yanish remembered, “she would always invite a soldier to our dinner. She always invited somebody who had nobody to be with.
“And, as a teacher, even in the final months of her life, when her dexterity and strength were failing she was teaching other elders how to make art!
“She was a powerful role model.”
Mrs. Shwayder was preceded in death by her husbands, Nathan Yanish and Monty Shwayder.
Survivors are children Mindy (Rina) Yanish, Marilyn (Jerry) Ginsburg and Ronald (Sharon) Yanish; and five grandchildren.
Contributions may be made to the UN High Commission on Refugees.
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