Clara Barth Leonard Sorenson Dieman (1877–1959) was an American female sculptor, painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

 and teacher from Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

. She was a former student of well known artists such as William Forsyth

William Forsyth (artist)

William J. Forsyth was an American Impressionist painter who was part of the "Hoosier Group" of Indiana artists.Forsyth was the first student of the Indiana School of Art in Indianapolis and entered the Munich Academy along with T. C. Steele and J. Ottis Adams in 1882...

, Alexander Archipenko

Alexander Archipenko

Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko was a Ukrainian avant-garde artist, sculptor, and graphic artist.-Biography:...

 and Lorado Taft

Lorado Taft

Lorado Zadoc Taft was an American sculptor, writer and educator. Taft was born in Elmwood, Illinois in 1860 and died in his home studio in Chicago in 1936.-Early years and education:...

, who she worked on Fountain of Time

Fountain of Time

Fountain of Time, or simply Time, is a sculpture by Lorado Taft, measuring in length, situated at the western edge of the Midway Plaisance within Washington Park in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. This location is in the Washington Park community area on Chicago's South Side...

 with. Between 1907 and 1916, Leonard taught introductory sculpture classes at the John Herron Art Institute

Herron School of Art

Herron School of Art and Design, a school of Indiana University, was ranked 45th overall by U.S. News and World Report among graduate schools of fine arts in 2008....

 in Indianapolis. In 1917, she graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago

Art Institute of Chicago

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...

, where she had been a student of Taft's, and she later studied at Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 as well.

Clara Barth Leonard was married twice, to Niels Sorenson and to Charles Dieman

During her career as a sculptor,Sorenson frequently worked in portraiture, completing a bas-relief of William A. Bell for the Indianapolis school of the same name, and in 1916, a bronze memorial plaque in honor of Shortridge High School

Shortridge High School

Shortridge High School is a public high school located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Opened in 1864, it is the oldest free, public high school in the state...

 custodian James Biddy. She participated in a number of art exhibitions across the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, including in Chicago, Illinois, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, and Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...

, where she spent the latter part of her life.

For a while Dieman lived in Denver Colorado, Taft

Lorado Taft

Lorado Zadoc Taft was an American sculptor, writer and educator. Taft was born in Elmwood, Illinois in 1860 and died in his home studio in Chicago in 1936.-Early years and education:...

 places her there in 1925 and while there she worked and studied with Robert Garrison

Robert Garrison

Robert Garrison was an American sculptor . He was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa.Garrison studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia and with Gutzon Borglum...

at least until 1929.

Sources