Eleanor “Ellie” Schneiderman
Before Miami became recognized as an incubator for the arts, potter and clay sculptor Ellie Schneiderman had a vision that led to the ultimate creation of the Art Center/South Florida (now known as Oolite Arts) on Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road in 1984. At the time, Lincoln Road was a desolate street with shuttered stores. Seeing enormous potential to revitalize the area and secure space for individual artists, Schneiderman obtained financing through City of Miami Beach grants to purchase buildings along Lincoln Road. With remarkable insight, Ellie often said that “if the South Florida Art Center was owned by the artists, then even if property values went up, the artists would be protected and always have a home.” Oolite’s annual visual arts awards The Ellies are named in honor founder Ellie Schneiderman. She was involved in Grove House and Ceramic League and the University of Miami Art Department, and a regular participant in the Coconut Grove Arts Festival. For two years, at Paseos in Coral Gables, Ellie created another community of artists with studio showrooms. In 2000, together with I. Stanley Levine, Ellie founded ArtSouth in Homestead. They purchased property consisting of a church, school, and motel, converting it into ArtSouth, housing 60 artists, with a sculpture foundry, ceramic studios and gallery space. A tenacious and courageous leader, Ellie Schneiderman’s legacy lives on in the cultural institutions she created for South Florida’s artists.