Joe Abbrescia
About Joe Abbrescia
In 1965, he founded the Village Art School in Skokie, Illinois. His unique teaching methods and ability to communicate resulted in escalating enrollments. He remained the Director of the School until 1976, during which time he continued to teach and paint and sell his work in the Chicago area and to establish a market in the West.
He participated in art shows and was represented by the Ace Powell Art Gallery in Kalispell, MT. Following many painting trips to Montana, and captivated by the beauty of Glacier National Park, in 1976 he moved with his wife and two sons to Kalispell Montana to be a full-time painter. A harsh winter sent him to Scottsdale, Arizona for a time, but Montana called him back.
He frequently painted on location in Glacier and was an artist in residence there the summer of 1998. Glacier Park Inc. commissioned two paintings from Abbrescia, one in 1997 and one in 1999. The paintings now hang in the lobbies of the lodges at Many Glacier and Lake McDonald.
Joe Abbrescia died February 17, 2005 at his home in Kalispell, Montana.
Biography from the Archives of askART