Artistic Legacy: Gene Figura Exhibits

Gene Figura (1927-2017) was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, the younger of two brothers. He served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps and worked as a sign artist during the last months of World War II.

In June 1951, Gene received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Painting and Illustration from the Minneapolis School of Art, which he was able to attend thanks to the G.I. Bill. It was there he met the love of his life, Adele Johnson. Gene and Adele married in October of 1951 and within a couple of years moved from St. Paul, MN to Ames where Adele’s family resided. Daughter Lori (1957-2023) joined Gene and Adele 6 years later. Adele, also an artist, created the Ames Public Library’s children department’s Little Library displays for many years.

In the mid-1950s Gene worked as the head of the art department designing stuffed animals at Collegiate Manufacturing Company which occupied several floors of the Octagon Center for the Arts’ current building. He also started inventing tools that aided the work done in his department. Around 1967, Gene began a master’s degree at Iowa State University (ISU) and began a new career in teaching in the ISU College of Design where he worked until his retirement in 1993. He continued to draw, paint, and invent tools to make his life easier.

Figura entered many of his works in the Iowa State Fair, the Octagon Center for the Arts exhibits, and faculty shows at Iowa State.

On the second floor there is an additional series of Gene’s figurative works in the Gallery, next to the meeting rooms, as well as the Iowa State Fair series at in the library’s vestibule.

Thanks to The Frame Shop for their assistance with this exhibit.

Contact Susan (sgent@amespubliclibrary.org)  for inquiries about the exhibits.