Bak, Alice
( - 2008)Artist and Illustrator
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. - Polish American artist and book illustrator Alice Wadowski-Bak died June 14 in Niagara Falls.
Bak was a noted Polish American creator of wycinanki (paper-cutting) and folklore artist whose works can be found in private collections and galleries worldwide.
She was an exhibitor at the Albright Knox in Buffalo, the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art and the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Her work appeared in the books "Polish Folklore and Myth" and "Polish Proverbs," both by Joanne Asala.
She also illustrated "The Owl's Nest: Folk Tales from Friesland" by Dorothy Gladys Spicer. Her wigilia illustration appears on envelopes of oplatek sold throughout the United States.
Bak, who was recognized by the AM-POL EAGLE as the 1996 Citizen of the Year in Media, said of her wycinanki: "My drawings are done in my own way; I like to make each one have a pattern all its own."
In the book "Polish Touches," she published the story of her mother's travels from Poland to the United States.
In 2001, Bak gave a presentation to the Polish Arts Club of Buffalo entitled, "Art Journeys: WNY, NYC, Poland and Bak."
She had received her early art training in Buffalo. Eugene Dyczkowski, president of the Buffalo Society of Artists and the founding president of the Polish Arts Club, was sufficiently impressed with her work to offer her a scholarship but she was pursuing other artistic paths at the time and was not able to accept the offer.
Bak enrolled in the master's of fine art program at Syracuse University and completed her studies at the University of Buffalo. She would later spend time in New York City in the art field and was a book illustrator and fabric designer.
She, however, returned to her beloved Niagara Falls where she helped with the Polish School at Holy Trinity Parish, used her talents in art and writing to work with children of migrant workers in Niagara County, and as a coordinator for the Alcohol Council in Niagara County, Inc.
Source: Polish American Journal, August 2008, Vol. 97, No. 8.