sculptor, silversmith; b. Sept. 6, 1914, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Nohl is best-known for transforming the surrounding lot of her residence at 7328 Beach Drive, Fox Point, Wisconsin, into a total art environment. Beginning after the death of her parents in 1963, she created more than 60 sculptures of concrete, glass and stone that populate the yard. The Mary Nohl Site has been listed as one of the ten most endangered properties in Wisconsin (2005) by the Wisconsin Preservation Trust. The site has also been recognized on the Wisconsin Registry of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places.

Nohl earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1937 and her B.A. in Education in 1939. She served as an art teacher for the Baltimore County Public Schools in Maryland (1939–1941), North Division High School in Milwaukee (1941); and Stueben Middle School, Milwaukee (1941–1946).

She opened Mary Nohl Ceramics in Milwaukee in 1947. She was also a silversmith and created 350 silver pieces, including pendants, necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings (1950-1960). Her silver work was included in the Wisconsin Designer Craftsman exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Institute in December 1950. An exhibit of her original art work was held at Cardinal Stritch College in 1991. In recognition of the body of work she produced during her lifetime, she was awarded the Wisconsin Visual Art Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 2008.

Nohl left her $11 million estate to the Greater Milwaukee Foundation to create the Mary L. Nohl Fund. Prior to her death, she bequeathed her home (7328 Beach Drive, Fox Point, Wisconsin) and her art work to the Kohler Foundation (Kohler, Wisconsin).

Sources: Greater Milwaukee Foundation. Mary Nohl, at greatermilwaukeefoundation.org; Kohler Foundation. Mary Nohl site, at kohlerfoundation.org/new_NohlSite.html; Manger, B. & Smith, J. Mary Nohl Inside & Outside (Milwaukee: University of Wisconsin Press, 2009); Michaels-Paque, J. Wisconsin women of distinction, Portrait life casts. (Milwaukee: Cardinal Stritch College, 1995). Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places, wisconsinhistory.org/hp/register/

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[Source: Submitted by Rhonda Sharpe of Alverno College. See citations above. ]