Catherine St. John

June 10, 1942 - May 7, 2022

Catherine St. John of Thomasville, Georgia, passed peacefully at home on May 7, 2022. She was born in the Bronx on June 10, 1942 to Stanley J. Palinski and Dorothy King Palinski; the family later moved to Paramus and New Milford, NJ. She formerly resided in Clifton, NJ, and Milford, CT. At age three, Cathy knew herself to be an artist when she created a pencil and crayon drawing of a ferris wheel and roller coaster after a jaunt to Coney Island with her beloved grandfather. Later in life she wrote “art was a continuing journey for my imaginative, innovative and creative life.” Catherine earned the Doctor of Arts degree from NYU in 1995. Her dissertation “Stylistic Change” was informed by a multiplicity of style in her own work. A six week residency at Vermont Studio School was a transformative experience that provided an environment to explore her ideas about the nature of visual communication and stylistic change, of finding different ways of speaking. Of the new paintings she wrote “there is energy in my paintings and by this I mean that the still life becomes an event in which objects are liberated from their formal boundaries by playfulness.” She earned her BA and MA at William Paterson University and was a 2000 recipient of WPU’s Distinguished Alumni Award. While a college art student, Cathy worked at Sears, Hackensack, NJ, which afforded her a unique experience with the Sears’ Exclusive Vincent Price Collection. Sears commissioned Vincent Price to create a collection of original art by known artists for exhibition and sale in their stores. Cathy was asked to share her insights and guide the department heads in talking about the modern art. Cathy loved connecting people with art, a passion she shared throughout her life. “I am an artist who teaches” is the way Dr. St. John described herself. She was an inspirational, compassionate educator who, for ten years, taught studio art and the popular “Seven Arts” at Mahwah High School, NJ, where she also chaired the Art and Music departments. As an adjunct, she taught at Ramapo College and exhibited at its Berrie Center and at William Paterson University exhibiting at its Ben Shan Gallery. At the NJ campuses of Berkeley College Dr. St. John’s career spanned four decades. She also exhibited at The Berkeley Art Gallery at the midtown NY campus. Always advocating for the arts, Dr. St. John was honored four times as Instructor of the Year. As a 1993 recipient of a fellowship to the Institute for Arts and Humanities Education, funded by the NEH, Dr. St. John was one of 25 colleagues who collaborated for the year-long Paul Robeson Faculty Institute, a seminal experience guiding her future study. Dr. St. John’s research into the life and art, particularly the Paris years, of American painter Beauford Delaney began in 1994 after viewing a retrospective of the late artist’s paintings at the Philippe Briet Gallery, NY. Sharing her thinking about painting and Delaney’s legacy, her friendship with the gallerist and his brother Sylvain, and with other researchers and curators of Delaney’s work, enriched Cathy’s life immeasurably. Cathy loved Paris and traveled regularly for her artistic inspiration and research. She presented lectures and papers in the US and Paris and participated with Les Amis de Beauford Delaney on a retrospective exhibit of the artist. Dr. St. John also served as a member of the African American Cultural Committee of the Montclair Art Museum, NJ. Catherine St. John’s paintings have been shown in juried and invitational exhibits in the Metropolitan NY area including at the National Academy of Design, NY, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Stamford, CT, and the Heckscher Museum, Huntington, NY. Her work is included in the collection of the National Association of Women Artists at the Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University and in both private and corporate collections. Her most recent retrospective and gallery talk was “Journey South” held at the Thomasville Center for the Arts in 2019. Cathy was so very kind. She cherished people and she was beloved. She is survived by her dear brother Stanley J. (Dee) Palinski Jr and niece Antonette (Joey) Stiebritz and extended family; the thousands of students she inspired; her treasured colleagues and devoted friends, especially Cynthia Chamberlin who understood that a handful of thoughts and a roomful of paintings were among the most important things in Catherine’s life. Private services will be planned for a later date. In her memory, donations may be made to: The Thomasville Center for the Arts, Thomasville, GA Les Amis de Beauford Delaney, Paris, France The Ben Jones Scholarship Fund, Montclair Art Museum, NJ