Evelynne Mess Daily ( 1903 – 2003)
Known as a master printmaker, painter and an art teacher throughout her life, Mess Daily grew up in Indianapolis. She studied at Butler University, the John Herron Art School and Indiana University. She and her first husband, George Mess, had a creative partnership throughout their 37 years of marriage. They opened and sustained art schools in various decades of their time together. Known throughout her life as an enthusiastic and generous teacher, Mess Daily taught various forms of printmaking, painting, drawing and even fashion design. As a long time member of the Indiana Society of Printmakers, she elevated and exposed a whole generation of artists to printmaking where they otherwise would not have encountered the medium.
In early 1929, Evelynne and George were both accepted to the Fontainebleau School of Art in France. She and Mess idyllically spent much of the year painting there until they hastily returned to the States after the stock market crash.
In the 1930s, Mess Daily’s work was receiving recognition and even included in a print calendar with work by well-known regionalist landscape painters such as Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, Rockwell Kent and Stuart Davis. It has been said that George Mess was Evelynne’s most renowned student as she taught him the medium and also helped him achieve the details of many of his prints and editions. She exhibited throughout her life with a pinnacle one person retrospective in 1970 at the Brown County Art Gallery. She was also known as a tireless organizer for the arts in Indianapolis. The Indianapolis Art League granted her an award for 50 years of service. She also has work in the collections of the Library of Congress and the Fort Wayne Art Museum, among other museums and state institutions.
The intaglio print, Adirondack Trail 1945 received recognition in 1945 & 1946 while her work was receiving accolades in the regional printmaking world. Adirondack Trail 1945 was also featured on the front cover of Indianapolis Star Magazine in May 1949 and is currently held in the collection of the Indianapolis Art Museum and the Philadelphia Art Museum.