Elsa Kula

Elsa Kula passed away peacefully on December 21, 2019, in Gainesville, Florida. She was 101 years old. Ms. Kula was born in 1918 in New York, NY, and was an artist her entire life. She was intensely creative, mostly in visual arts and in crafts, using a variety of media, always with a sense of humor and playfulness. She was fiercely proud and independent, forging her own path through life. She attended Pratt Institute in New York, then moved to Chicago to study at the Institute of Design. There she met her husband, Davis Pratt, and they had two daughters. Elsa taught at the Institute of Design and worked as a commercial artist in Chicago before moving to Carbondale, Illinois, to be a professor of Graphic Arts and Design at Southern Illinois University. She focused on nurturing creativity in others as well as expressing her own curiosity, ingenuity, and creativity through her art. She forged a successful career despite the obstacles inherent in being a professional woman in the field of art. She loved to travel, and taught and lived in Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia. Elsa retired from SIU in 1980 and moved to Gainesville, Florida, where she continued to be an active artist and volunteer at St. Francis House until her diminishing eyesight forced her to stop. Her sense of justice inspired her to paint portraits of people she met at St. Francis House, and exhibit them in galleries around Gainesville to bring attention to the challenges of being homeless. She was recently honored in a New Bauhaus exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago, which featured work she created at the Institute of Design when she was both a student and faculty member there. Despite her declining vision, she enjoyed her family, and kept up her good spirits and positive outlook. Survivors include her daughters Jessica Jaeger (Gene), Miranda Pratt (Chris Wells) and three grandchildren (Haley Jaeger, Davis Wells, Caitlin Wells Salerno (Jon)), and one great grandson (Hank Salerno) with one on the way. A Memorial Service will be held Monday, January 13, 2020 at 2:00 at the Congregation B’nai Israel Synagogue, 3830 NW 16 Blvd., Gainesville FL 32605 In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory can be made to any of her favorite charities/institutions: St. Francis House, Gainesville, Florida, Sierra Club, American Civil Liberties Union, Simon Wiesenthal Center, National Museum of Women in the Arts or Congregation B’nai Israel.