DEIKE, CLARA L.

DEIKE, CLARA L. (1881-13 March 1964) was a distinguished Cleveland artist and art teacher. Born in Detroit, Mich., she came to Cleveland as a child to receive her education at CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, the Cleveland Normal Training School, and the Cleveland School of Art (see CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART). Her art training was later supplemented by study with Hans Hoffman in Munich and Capri and with Diego Rivera in Mexico. Deike taught art for 30 years in the CLEVELAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS, notably at CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, John Adams, and WEST HIGH SCHOOL. She also pursued an active avocation as a painter, exhibiting regularly in the MAY SHOW and holding 1-person shows in Cleveland, Columbus, and Washington, D.C. "She never was in the flow of what became known as the Cleveland School of artists, though historically she belongs in the fold," said art critic Helen Cullinan. Her style ranged from still lifes and landscapes to abstract experimentation in her later years. A founding member of the WOMEN'S ART CLUB OF CLEVELAND, Deike served as the group's president in 1919-20. Never married, she maintained studios in her LAKEWOOD residence and in a summer home in Gloucester, Mass.