74 | MARCH 23 • 2023 

L

illian Schwartz, an early 
leader in the field of com-
puter artistry, is being cel-
ebrated in an exhibition running 
March 25 through the end of the 
year at the Henry Ford Museum 
of American Innovation in 
Dearborn. 
Lillian Schwartz: Whirlwind 
of Creativity presents samples 
of her work and recollec-
tions of the life that soon will 
number 96 years. The exhibit 
curator, Kristen Gallerneaux, 
also is responsible for bringing 
Schwartz’s archive to the perma-
nent collection of the museum.
The Henry Ford, opening its 
Collections Gallery with this dis-
play, will rotate segments of its 
holdings into the gallery and is 
offering the experience of view-
ing Schwartz’s use of technology 
in developing innovative films, 
animation videos and comput-
er-aided art forms. 

Schwartz’s projects came after 
the artist’s experimentation with 
painting, drawing and sculp-
ture. Her attention to computer 
opportunities began appearing 
in the 1960s. In 1968, her kinetic 
sculpture “Proxima Centauri” 
became part of an exhibit at 
the Museum of Modern Art 
(MoMA) in New York.
Her MoMA piece starts 
moving and changing colors as 
onlookers approach. 
“I first encountered Lillian’s 
work as an art student,
” said 
Gallerneaux, who holds master’s 
degrees in printmaking and 
folklore and a doctoral degree 
that combines art practice and 
media history subjects. “I saw 
her work and never forgot it. 
“I’ve been with The Henry 
Ford for 10 years, and one day 
I happened to think about what 
happened to her archives. I 
tracked down the contact infor-

mation through the family and 
called them. I was on a plane to 
New York just before COVID 
hit, visiting the family and 
acquiring her archives.
”
About 200 items are being 
shown as representing the work 
and beyond as initiated by the 
woman who was raised in a 
Jewish home in Cincinnati, 
started out in nursing, married 
a pediatrician and had two sons, 
one of whom has joined in some 
projects and administers their 
use.
“Lillian quickly realized that 
what she actually enjoyed out of 
nursing was seeing medicines 
and realizing they make really 
amazing colors when you mix 
them together,
” Gallerneaux 
said. “This was the 1940s when 
she made the jump into art and 
quickly started to establish an 
arts career.
”
Schwartz, whose maiden 

name was Feldman, became 
one of the first resident artists 
at AT&T Bell Laboratories 
(1969-2002) and later acted as 
a consultant for AT&T, IBM 
and Lucent Technologies. Her 
instruction came from self-stud-
ies and interactions with pro-
fessional colleagues instead of 
formal schooling.
 “The way I approached curat-
ing this exhibit was to create a 
very holistic representation of 
not just her film work but her 
entire life,
” the curator said. 
“There are display cases filled 
with family photographs, her 
nursing certificates and draw-
ings she made while living in 
Japan. Even the badges she wore 
while being a resident visitor 
artist at Bell Labs have been 
included.
”
Among Schwartz’s work on 
display is Olympiad, a short film 
project that offers a modernized 

Lillian Schwartz exhibit shows her early command of computer artistry. 
‘Whirlwind of Creativity’

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ARTS&LIFE
EXHIBIT
Pioneering 
computer artist 
Lillian Schwartz 
with one of her 
pieces. 

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE HENRY FORD LILLIAN SCHWARTZ COLLECTION

