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Sharon Koskoff
Art Deco Society of the Palm Beaches ADSPB
Full name - Sharon Gail Koskoff
Born - January 24th, 1954
Nationality - American
Occupation - Author, Artist
Education - Brooklyn College BA 1974, Brooklyn College MA 1975, New York School of Interior Design 1977.
Websites
Sharon Koskoff is an American artist, author, community activist, designer, educator, mural artist, photographer, preservationist, public speaker, and tour guide.
Early Life and Education
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Sharon grew up in a creative environment. Her father owned a ladies' blouse factory where she learned to sew and design fashion. At age 14, Sharon’s older sister commissioned her very first mural and hence discovered her passion for large-scale projects.
As a child, Koskoff grew up in a creative atmosphere playing in her father’s ladies' blouse factory, exploring sewing machines, and designing elaborate costumes for her Barbie Dolls.
She painted her first mural at age 14 when her older sister Cheryl married and asked Sharon to paint a graphic design on the walls of her new apartment.
Koskoff attended Brooklyn College, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Sculpture and Photography in 1974. She became certified in Color Theory in 1977 at the New York School of Interior Design.
After graduation, Koskoff worked in the needlecraft industry and started her own company, New York Needlecraft. Sharon sold her hand-painted custom designs to stores from New York to Florida. She signed all her original artwork “By Sharon”, her signature trademark, that became her website www.BySharon.com.
She moved to Delray Beach, Florida, in December of 1985 where she turned her attention to painting murals and coordinating community projects full-time.
Arts Education
Sharon Koskoff received the Muse Award of Excellence in Arts Education by the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County in 2014 for her work in the community. Every two years, the Muse Awards recognize outstanding organizations and individuals who have made an impact on the arts and cultural community.
In addition to painting full time, Koskoff taught classes at the Armory Art Center from 1987 to 2002, Very Special Arts (Arts4All) in 1989, Boca Raton School of Arts in 1990, Project Leap for the Center for Creative Education in the 1990s, and the Creative School of Arts at Old School Square from 2003 to 2022.
Koskoff was a museum group tour guide at the Society of the Four Arts from 2016 to 2020. She joined the Florida Humanities Speakers Bureau from 2014 to 2022, traveling throughout the state.
Career
Arts Career
Sharon Koskoff is the only artist on record to receive eight consecutive grants (1994 – 2002) from the Palm Beach County Cultural Council for the Neighborhood in Artist Residency Program (NARP). This award funded group art projects in multicultural areas. The Community Mural Projects, public murals located throughout Delray Beach, are the results of this effort. Sharon has also painted over 350 murals in the Palm Beach County public school system.
Sharon Koskoff met with Barbara Baer Capitman, the Queen of Art Deco in Miami Beach, who mentored her in Art Deco Preservation. Sharon became the Founding President Art Deco Society of the Palm Beaches in 1987 and continues to serve to this day. She also joined Very Special Arts (Arts4All) in 1987 and is still a member. The same year, Koskoff joined the Armory Art Center as an Art Instructor, teaching until 2002. Between 1988 and 1992, she was the Vice President of Norton Artists’ Guild and was a Founding Board Member of Women in Visual Arts from 1989 to 1992.
Koskoff led the Community Chair Project (2000) where 15 Adirondack Chairs, painted by volunteers, were placed throughout the City of Delray Beach. She led the Delray Beach Flower Festival (2000 and 2003) where 100 at-risk students from Toussaint L’Overture High School created living floral installations using 15,000 live impatiens. She led the Cultural Loop Open Door Project (2003) where 111 doors were painted and installed at Delray Beach City Hall.
Between 1994 and 2002, Koskoff received eight consecutive grants from the Neighborhood Artist in the Residency Program from the Palm Beach County Arts Council. In 2003 she joined Old School Square as an Arts Instructor, serving until the present. From 2010 to 2015 she was Chairperson of Delray Beach Public Art Advisory Board, (PAAB). Koskoff was a Museum Group Tour Guide at the Society of the Four Arts from 2016 to 2020 and Board Secretary at the International Coalition of Art Deco Societies from 2001 to 2023.
From 2001 to 2014, Sharon worked with ten non-for-profit organizations that created 14-foot-tall puppets on wheels that marched in Delray Beach’s First Night New Year’s Eve parades.
In 2010, she partnered with Delray Beach city residents, Lisa and James Quillian, to organize Art in the Alley TM, an annual public art event. Koskoff recruits volunteer artists who paint mural panels which are then installed in the Osceola Park district of Delray Beach. The mission of which is “revitalization through creative community endeavors”. www.ArtintheAlley.org
Cultural Leadership Roles
Art Deco Preservation
In 1986, Sharon met with Barbara Baer Capitman, the “Queen of Art Deco” in Miami Beach, who mentored her in Art Deco preservation.
In 1987, Sharon Koskoff became the Founding President of the Art Deco Society of the Palm Beaches (ADSPB) a not-for-profit 501 (c) 3 historic preservation organization.
In 1991, Capitman connected Art Deco societies worldwide by initiating the International Coalition of Art Deco Societies (ICADS), a group that fosters networking and global conferences every two years.
Koskoff is an advocate of education and preservation of Art Deco and Twentieth Century art, architecture, and design found in the Palm Beaches. She identified and documented dozens of Art Deco structures and discovered that many of these previously overlooked hidden treasures were the home to “arts and cultural institutions”.
In 1989, she designed and painted the Art Deco architectural elements of the Old National Guard Armory in West Palm Beach. Built in 1939 by William Manly King, the historic structure is now the world class Armory Art Center.
In 2007, Koskoff designed a triangular, neon Art Deco Marquee for the Lake Worth Playhouse built in 1924. Originally the Oakley Theater, it was built by brothers Clarence and Lucien Oakley.
As an Art Deco Color Consultant, Koskoff used an Egyptian palette for the Wenger House design in 2012. Built as a private residence in 1948 in Delray Beach, it has been featured in many publications, on television, and a favorite stop for Art Deco tours.
History was made in the Palm Beaches when Koskoff hosted the 16th Art Deco World Post-Congress, a three-day tour, in collaboration with the Miami Design Preservation League and ICADS in April 2023. She guided Art Deco enthusiasts from around the globe for the biennial conference entitled “Modernism: Florida’s Hidden Treasures”.
Palm Beach Photographer Joel Cohen dubbed Koskoff as the “Duchess of Deco” continuing Barbara Capitman’s legacy in the historic preservation of Art Deco Modernism.
Personal Life
Sharon Koskoff has worked and lived in Delray Beach Florida since 1985.
Books
Sharon Koskoff wrote two books for Arcadia Publishing. Photograph credits belong to the author unless otherwise noted. The first book,
Art Deco of the Palm Beaches, was written in 2007.
Murals of the Palm Beaches was written in 2018 and was awarded two Silver Medals in 2019: one in the category of Education from the Florida Book Awards and one in the category of Visual Arts from the Florida Authors & Publishers Association.
Awards and Recognition
Historic Preservation
Associations
Public Art Commissions
3 G's Gourmet Deli
1991
505 Teen Center
2008
90 Southeast 5th Ave
2014
Alone Together: Corona Crisis Collage
2020
ARC VSA – 4 Murals
2016
Armory Art Center
1995 - 2000
Art & Jazz on the Avenue
1991
Art in Public Places West Palm Beach Aesop's Tables
2017
Art in the AlleyTM
2010 - present
Artigas Art Festival
2000 - 2001
Atlantic Community High School
1997 - 1998
Banyan Creek Elementary School
2005 - 2011
Barton Elementary School
2007 - 2008
Belvedere Elementary School
2003 - 2004
Boca Raton Elementary School
2002
Boca Raton Express Museum Train Depot
2003
Boynton Beach Art In Public Places
2008
Boynton Beach Stage Left Theatre
2013
Boys & Girls Clubs of America of Belle Glade
2014
C.W. Gerstenberg Hospice Children’s Bereavement Room
1992
Carver Middle School
1997 - 2000
Castaways Bar & Grill
1997
Centennial Mural West Palm Beach
1995
Cezanne Jazz Club at Ramada Hotel
1994
City of Aventura Founders Day Festival
2008 - 2010
Clematis Street Bench Project
2004
Coffee Gallery Café
1995 - 1998
Connor Moran Children’s Cancer Foundation
2000
Cornell Art Museum at Old School Square
2008 - 2013
Cox Science Museum & Aquarium
2019
Crosspointe Elementary School
2006
Del Prado Elementary School
1998
Delray Beach Cultural Loop / Community Chair Project
2000 - 2005
Delray Beach Cultural Loop / Open Door Project
2003 - 2004
Delray Beach Flower Festival / Millennium Project
2000
Delray Beach Flower Festival / Toussaint L ‘Overture
2003
Delray Full-Service Cente
1995 -1996
Discovery Key Elementary School
2005
Downtown Development Authority of Delray Beach
2021
Eagles Landing Middle School
1998
Environmental Resources Management of Palm Beach
1995
Fire Hydrants of Lake Worth Veterans
2007
First Night Delray Beach Giant Puppets
2001- 2014
First Night Seven Hole Miniature Golf
2004- 2006
Galilee Retirement Village
1995
Gators Galore
2012
Good Samaritan Hospital
1995
Greenacres Elementary School
2004
Hamburger Heaven Clematis Street
2012
Hatch 1121 ~ Trilogy: Art, Architecture & Community
2022
Hidden Oaks Elementary
2010
High Water Line Delray Beach
2015
Home Safe / A Place for Children
1996 -1997
Hotel Biba Showtel
2004
HRS Lobby & HRS Pediatric AIDS
1995-1996
Indian Ridge School
2007
JCC 350 Years of Jewish History in America
2004
JCC Hanukkah-fest
2003
JCC Charlie Brown Theatre Production
2003
JCC Wild Things: A Child’s Right to Read Installation
2003
Jefferson Davis Middle School
1995
Juneteenth! Spady Museum
2013 - 2015
Juvenile Justice of Palm Beach County
2013
Juvenile Justice of Port St. Lucie
2008
Keyes to the Cities, Kretzer Pianos
2013
Lake Worth Middle School
2012
Lake Worth Street Painting
1994 - 2010
Lincoln Elementary School
2007
Loggers Run Middle School
2001
Love’s Drug Building
1994
March of Dimes
2009
Mario’s Market
1995
Morikami Park Elementary School
1999
Nine Arch Murals of Lake Worth
2012
Northmore Elementary School
2002
Norton Museum of Art
1999 - 2000
Odyssey Middle School
2001
Office Depot Corporate Headquarters
1998
Orchard View Elementary School
2010
Osborne Center / For the Children
2008 - 2009
Oscar's Restaurant
1990
Palm Beach County Millennium Council
2001
Palm Beach Gardens Hospital
1990
Palm Beach International Airport
1995
Palm Beach Public School
1996
Palm Beach Zoo at Dreher Park
2000 - 2001
Palm Springs Elementary School
1996
Palm Springs Middle School
2007
Palmetto Elementary School
1996
Parker’s Kitchen Building
1995
Pine Grove Elementary School
2014
Pine Grove School of the Arts
1996 - 1997
Pineapple Grove Archway Base
2007
Plumosa School of the Arts
2011 - 2012
Post Card Murals Sent to the US Troops
1991
Puppetry Art Center of the Palm Beaches
2011
Quest Theatre
1990s
Ranger Construction
1990s
Resource Depot Jell-O Shots!
2014
Roosevelt Elementary School
2005
Roosevelt Middle School
2012
Rosemont Park Words to Live By
2007
Royce Hotel
1987
SD Spady Elementary School
1999 - 2001
Solid Waste Authority Palm Beach County
1992
South Florida Science Museum
1992 - 2022
St. Mary’s Hospital
2005
Sugar Sand Science Park
1995
Sunfest Banner Project Morikami Museum of Art
2007
Sunrise Park Elementary School
2002
Trilogy One Woman Retrospective
2022
U. B Kinsey/Palmview School of the Arts
2004
United Way Day Care
1997
Very Special Arts (Arts4All)
1987 - 2024
Washington Elementary School
1997
West Palm Beach Centennial
1994
Westgate Belvedere Home CRA Totem Sculpture
2013
Westgate CRA
2010 - present
Westward Elementary School
2008
Whispering Pines Elementary School
1997
YMCA of Boca Raton
2005