Spring 2005
A Lion's Share of Generosity
By growing a small inheritance from her mother and endowing a scholarship fund, Elayne Wolfenson honors her mother, celebrates art, and opens CLA’s doors to students.
Elayne “Odessa” Wolfenson (B.F.A. ’87 summa cum laude, M.F.A. ’92) loves all kinds of art, but, if pressed, says one of her favorite paintings is “The Sleeping Gypsy” by the 19th century French primitivist Henri Rousseau. The work depicts a lion keeping a protective watch over a slumbering man with a mandolin by his side and a full moon overhead.
As founder and driver of Friends of the Department of Art, Wolfenson is a kind of kindred spirit to the painting’s guardian lion. But her strength is not in ferocity or cunning but in a beguiling mix of grace, panache, ardent commitment, chutzpah, and sheer tenacity. An artist, philanthropist, and roll-up-your-sleeves working volunteer, she has taken on a lion’s share of work and advocacy on behalf of the department. She was a prime mover and guardian of the flame in the 12-year fundraising drive that culminated in the University’s Regis Center for Art.
Calling Wolfenson a “stalwart champion” and “irresistible force,” CLA dean Steven Rosenstone presented the University’s Alumni Service Award to Wolfenson at the brand new Regis Center in 2003. “We might not have this building were it not for Elayne ’s deep and unwavering commitment to the Department of Art,” he said. “I’d be hard pressed to think of anyone who’s been more passionate and more out there in her support of the department and the University.”
But Wolfenson doesn’t just make buildings happen. With her husband Marvin, a Minnesota businessman and former co-owner of the Timberwolves, she also helps shape students’ lives. In 1989, she created the Zelda and Max Berman Scholarship, named for her parents. And she ’s been contributing to the fund ever since.
Wolfenson’s most recent gift of $25,000 qualified for matching funds through the University’s 21st Century Graduate Fellowship Program. Her only stipulation in making this gift was that half the recipients be female.
A mother’s gift
Perhaps that’s only fitting, since the gift grew from an inheritance left to her by her mother, Zelda. Wolfenson, who is now 70, never spent the $3,000. But when she began to sell her art works, she added her earnings to the kitty. “Every time I sold a painting,” she says, “I put the money in there, and then I invested the funds.”
Wolfenson’s gift was inspired not only by her love of her mother but also by her own experiences as a late-blooming art student. When Wolfenson began studying art at the U in 1982, she was 47, and her three children (Ellyn, Ernie, and David) were completing their own educations. “My [younger] student friends were going through the same academic struggles I was,” she says, “but they had jobs and babies as well. Their struggle was much more difficult than mine. I want [this scholarship fund] to help people like them have an easier time.”
Art and commitment
Be that as it may, Wolfenson experienced her own travails as a mid-life student. “It’s very difficult for re-entry students,” she says. “I had established a whole pattern of life when I went back to school. I had long-term relationships, a family, and a home. Once I started at the U, I hardly had time to read the newspaper. I put all my effort into my studies.”
That effort paid off. Wolfenson graduated with the University’s highest honors and went on to create an independent career as a painter— today known as Odessa. She describes her art as “abstract and on the surreal side. Mostly it’s about families, feelings, and relationships, the interconnnectedness of everything.”
Wolfenson briefly attended junior college in California before her marriage, but she believes her real education began when she was admitted to the U. “When I went to junior college at age 18, I didn’t know what I wanted,” she says. “When I went to the U, I was a mature adult. I wanted to learn and knew what I wanted to do.”
Wolfenson came by that certainty through a mix of nature and nurture. Her parents, she says, fostered both her interest in the arts and her respect for education. Although neither parent went to college, respect for learning was bred in the bone. “In my family,” says Wolfenson, “education was the uppermost thing.”
It’s a value that strengthens Wolfenson’s own philosophy of giving. “It’s important to be able to give opportunities to others who are trying to improve their lives through education,” she says. “My philosophy is to ask, ‘What do we owe the U and its dedicated teachers for giving us the chance for an education?
“How can we help the U that has helped us achieve so much and has done so much for Minnesota?’”
Paying it forward
Wolfenson sees education, philanthropy, and volunteer service as powerful forces for healing and for positive social change. Ditto for her art. Her paintings, prints, and mixed media works have been exhibited throughout Minnesota, bringing her message of peace, healing, and social justice to all corners of the state.
Wolfenson’s gifts, like her art, have set in motion what she calls “something greater than ourselves.” Gifts in her honor come pouring in on her birthday and other special days. Of course, she always reciprocates— by making gifts to the University in honor of her friends.