Greta Gundersen

A native New Yorker of Norwegian descent, Greta Gundersen had lived in New York City, California, Spain and South America. She graduated with a BA in Fine Arts and a BA in Psychology, with Honors, from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1979. She was an Artist-in-Residence at the Millay Colony for the Arts in New York, and at Altos de Chavon in the Dominican Republic.

From 1981 – 1990 Gundersen was the director of BACA Downtown, a nonprofit visual and performing arts center in Brooklyn, New York, earning her an OBIE Award “for keeping experimental theater alive and well in New York City.”

In 1990 Gundersen became the Artistic Director of The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council at the World Trade Center. There she worked with visual and performing artists to create public installations, events and festivals throughout the Financial District. For over 10 years she served as a panelist and consultant with The Rockefeller Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., The Jerome Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts, The Jim Henson Foundation, among others.

Gundersen left New York City in 1995 and lived in Western Massachusetts, painting full time until her death in 2017.