Carolyn Pomponio
Age - 89
November 22, 2023
Carolyn Cowdin Pomponio passed away peacefully on November 19, 2023, at the age of 89, at her home in Warrenton, VA surrounded by family. Beloved wife of the late Peter Paul Pomponio, Sr. She was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on January 2, 1934, and moved to Washington DC in 1953 to attend George Washington University. While attending university, she and Peter met, and they married in 1956. They were married for 56 years before Peter's passing. Together they raised four children. Their lives centered on family and food. Family meals, whether a holiday celebration or a simple weekday dinner were exquisitely prepared, rivaling any five-star restaurant, and served with a well-chosen wine and, of course, lively conversation.
Creating art, for Carolyn, was a life-long passion beginning in her earliest childhood and directing the course of her life. She earned degrees in Graphic Arts and Design from George Mason University, and Art History and English Literature from George Washington University. Her ultimate form of creative expression was printmaking. Through the course of her printmaking journey, Carolyn mastered the intricacies of stone lithography, etching, screen printing, monoprint, monotype and Solar Plate transfer.
She was a member of the Washington Women's Art Center, whose closure was the driving force behind her co-founding the Washington Printmakers Gallery in 1985. The Washington Printmakers Gallery is a cooperative gallery devoted to the creation, education and sale of original hand-pulled artists' prints. Through the years, she served as its President, Vice President, and Treasurer. She was extremely proud of the gallery and its success as the longest continuously operating cooperative gallery dedicated to printmaking. In 2005, she co-founded, and served as President and Director Emeritus of, the Washington Print Foundation, a non-profit corporation established to fund arts education programs in printmaking, photography and digital art for the greater public community.
Carolyn's prints are in private and public collections world-wide including: The Cheremetof Collection - Kulturi Foundation, Moscow, Russia; The U. S. Embassy Collections in Gabarone, Botswana; Muscat, Oman and Jakarta, Indonesia; The Shepard Pratt Hospital, and The Maryland Arts & Humanities Council's Executive Offices, both in Baltimore, MD; The Henry L. Stimson Research Center; The Library of Congress's Division of Prints & Drawings; The Smithsonian Institution; the former Corcoran Gallery of Art; The National Museum of Women in the Arts; and Georgetown University, all in Washington DC; The National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD; George Mason University, Fairfax, VA and Washington DC; and the celebrated Windfield Corporation, Arlington, VA among many others.
In addition to her work in the arts, Carolyn held various executive assistant positions, retiring as Executive Secretary to the Managing Partner of Patton Boggs law firm in Washington DC in 2013.
Carolyn is survived by her children Peter (Jane) Pomponio Jr. , Susan (William) Callery, Carol Pomponio, and Sharon Pomponio; her grandchildren Eric (Anjelica) Eitel, C. Tyler Pomponio, Jenna (Brian O'Neill) Pomponio, Colleen Callery, Bridget (Matt) Palmer, Daisy Pomponio, Jeremy Patterson, and Jonathan (Lisa) Patterson; and her great grandchildren Jennifer and Sean Eitel, and Carson Palmer. She is also survived by her brother Hugh (Cathy) Cowdin Sr. and sister-in-law Ellen Cowdin, and numerous nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by brothers C. Thomas Cowdin, Jr. and Timothy Cowdin.
A memorial reception will be held at the Washington Printmakers Gallery, 1675 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington DC 20007, on December 5th from 1:00-4:00 pm.
In lieu of flowers, a tax-deductible donation in Carolyn's memory may be made to The Washington Print Foundation, 1675 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington DC 20007 or https://www. washingtonprintfoundation. org/take-action.Show more
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