Lloyd Herman
LLOYD HERMAN (1937- 2023)
It is with great sadness that NWDC acknowledges the passing of Lloyd Herman. His death was due to complications from falling in early January of 2023. This, only 10 months following the death of Dick Wilson, his husband and life partner of 48 years.
A personal story: In 1982, after having my work juried into the Renwick’s Ten-Year Anniversary exhibit, I traveled to the opening. I was an artist still ‘wet behind the ears’ and Lloyd took me under his wing. He introduced me to everyone, and asked, ‘How is Patti Warashina doing? How about Bob? I was so impressed that he knew the names of geographically distant Northwest artists.
Later, when he returned to live in Washington State, Anne Hauberg hosted a welcome party for him. As I stood at his side he turned to me and said ‘Hello Lynn Di Nino!’ I was so awed by his memory, style, and grace. That never changed in the 40 years we were friends; he ALWAYS had a twinkle in his eye.
Lloyd Eldred Herman, 85, a Northwest Designer Craftartists Honorary Member since 1988, was considered one of the leading authorities on the contemporary craft movement. Everyone knows that the opening of the Renwick Gallery in Washington DC – almost 5 decades ago – came from Lloyd’s idea, imagination, curiosity, and guts. As the first director, he asked everyone to take a fresh look at the handmade through the lens of craftsmanship and design, to see craft as art. As a fine craft organization, we owe him a lot.
Other achievements include books and catalogs he authored, museum consultations, public speaking engagements, and many honorary and board memberships. He curated art exhibits and organized tours of shows both in the United States and internationally. For an extensive list of Lloyd’s accomplishments please follow the links below.
https://nwdesignercraftartists.org/lloyd-herman-biography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_E._Herman
When Lloyd wasn’t traveling, he regularly attended our organizations’ socials and exhibition openings; he was always generous and accessible. Over the years many members received personal notes from him – in the mail or through FaceBook – offering connections and resources. He was a torrent of ideas, making his presence on the early NWDC video committee invaluable.
Finally, we realized it was imperative that we feature Lloyd Herman as our tenth Living Treasures video subject, completed in June of 2022. You can see it at the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/MBavEfeDU08?autoplay=1&FORM=VIRE4
We will miss Lloyd’s playful nature, solid presence, and stream of ideas.
- Lynn Di Nino
