The Life and Art of Marion Gilmore
Born in Ottumwa, United States, Marion Gilmore was a multifaceted artist and an accomplished cellist. Her musical journey took her from playing in local trios and orchestras in Ottumwa to studying the cello at Drake University in Des Moines and later in New York. Her formal artistic education was extensive, spanning the University of Kentucky, the School of Fine Arts and Crafts in Boston, and the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute. She furthered her studies in New York City at the Phoenix Art Institute under Franklin Booth and Norman Rockwell, as well as at the Art Students League of New York. Her training also included time at the Stone City Art Colony under Grant Wood, the American Academy of Art in Chicago, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Gilmore's artistic output was diverse, encompassing painting, sculpting, illustration, and design. Her work is representative of the Ashcan School and Social Realism movements, often depicting subjects in a humorous way. Notable paintings include:
Public Works and Later Years
In the 1930s, Gilmore received federal commissions for post office murals through the Public Works Art Project of the Treasury Department. Her contributions to public art included a 1938 work featuring Chief Wapello for the Ottumwa post office and a mural for Corning, Iowa, in 1939. In 1941, she won the commission for the Corydon, Iowa, post office mural titled Volunteer Fire Department, which depicted a 1928 Continental fire engine. Following her marriage to Robert Hulse in 1943, she began using the professional name Mion Hulse.
After living in Minneapolis, the couple moved to Long Island, New York, in 1952. Her work was widely exhibited, including a posthumous exhibit at the Seiderman Gallery in Lynbrook, New York, in 1995. She died in Ottumwa.
