Mennello Museum of American Art

Deborah will present the true story of Laura Woodward (1834-1926), a member of the Hudson River School, and describe her times, when women artists largely had to make a choice: either domesticity or a professional career in landscape painting. Woodward came to Florida around 1889, fell in love with the state’s nature, and changed its history.

Deborah C. Pollack graduated with honors from Temple University with a degree in art history. As Deborah Courtney, she performed in numerous television commercials and, for three years starred on the soap opera Love of Life. She then became a fine art dealer and eventually, revisiting her background in art history, an author. Her books include Visual Art and the Urban Evolution of the New South, Palm Beach Visual Arts; Orville Bulman: An Enchanted Life and Fantastic Legacy; Felix De Crano: Forgotten Artist of the Flagler Colony; Bad Scarlett: The Extraordinary Life of the Notorious Southern Beauty Marie Boozer; Vintage Miami Beach Glamour: Celebrities and Socialites in the Heyday of Chic; Florida Sculptors and Their Work: 1880-2020; and Laura Woodward: The Artist Behind the Innovator Who Developed Palm Beach, which won an award from Florida Memorial University for making “a significant contribution to advancing the awareness of women’s history.” Pollack’s essays are in such books as the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture and Central to Their Lives: Women Artists in the Johnson Collection. Articles have appeared in periodicals including the American Art Review, New York History Review, Tequesta (scholarly journal of HistoryMiami), Antiques and Art Around Florida, and Tustenegee. She lives with her husband, Edward, in Palm Beach, Florida, where they own Edward and Deborah Pollack Fine Art.