Patricia Marie Moore, of Park Forest, passed on Wednesday June 8, 2022. She is survived by her beloved husband, Gary R Ankrom, their son, Gary (Lindsay) R.W. Ankrom and 4 dear grandchildren. Gary wishes to thank everyone for their kind expressions of sympathy and to his lovely wife he says “Deep in my heart you’ll always stay loved and missed.”
Pat spent her life “making art.” Her passion began in early childhood. Her family home in Park Forest was filled with artwork hung by her Parisian mother, Renee Young, an interior designer. Visits to art galleries were part of her upbringing. By four, she was taking art lessons. “I always knew I was going to be a painter,” she said. Pat took her first lessons from the Park Forest Art Center, now Tall Grass Arts Association, when she was seven.
Patricia said she “eats, sleeps and breathes art.” She worked on her art every day, often beginning before dawn. She was equally committed, however, to teaching art. She was the Gallery Director for Tall Grass and Director of the Tall Grass School, teaching many classes herself and scheduling other teachers. She has been an instructor at the Northern Indiana Art Association, the Crete and Village of Park Forest Park Districts, Village Artists of Flossmoor, and Project SAM (Summer Arts Marathon) hosted by the Illinois Theater Center. She also taught at the Glenwood School for Boys and Tall Grass. In 2004, she was selected as one of the “Best Muses for Children” in the “Best of Chicago” issue of Chicago Magazine.
Her boldly colored, huge canvases are immediately recognizable. They have been in many one-woman and group exhibits and hang in permanent collections in Fort Wayne and Indianapolis and corporate offices in Chicago and the suburbs. In 1997, one of her paintings was selected by the National Easter Seal Society for use as one of its Easter Seals. As such, it was mailed to 14 million households across the country.
Pat taught art to children and adults at the Tall Grass Arts Association, Union Street Gallery, and Flossmoor Library. She led art programs at the Glenwood School for Boys. She led public art projects with the Village of Park Forest including the creation of two painted pianos, and over thirty “steppingstones” for the downtown landscape project. She worked with the Park Forest Aqua Center and summer camps to create a lobby mural. She worked with the Park Forest Library to create a butterfly art project to complement their butterfly garden. Pat’s artwork was used for the 2018 Park Forest Vehicle Sticker. Pat regularly donates her artwork to charitable causes. Pat sent her student’s artwork to Chicago news media outlets for display during their broadcasts. Pat coordinated and hung artwork from Salon and Tall Grass artists in many area restaurants. Pat was with Southland Arts from the beginning and in 2019 received the Creative Arts Award from the South Suburban Small Business Association.
Pat had a studio in Downtown Park Forest and helped found Salon Artist Gallery on Main Street, also in Downtown. She participated in the Park Forest Art Fair for 44 consecutive years. The South Suburban art community expresses its sincere appreciation of Patricia Moore for having lived a life in the arts and for nurturing a love for the arts in others. We will miss her dearly.
A tribute to Pat Moore’s contribution to the South Suburban Art Community will take place during the Park Forest Art Fair, September 17 & 18, 2022 and details will available on the Tall Grass Arts Association website. Cremation arrangements entrusted to JSR Memorial Cremation and Care Cremation Center 515 Anderson Drive, Romeoville IL 60446. For more information call 866-912-9822 or visit us online at www.jsrmemorialcremation.com.
