Charna Rickey; Created Outdoor Sculptures

Charna Rickey, 77, sculptor who created large public artworks such as “The Family” for Los Angeles’ sister city of Nagoya, Japan. Born Charna Barsky in Chihuahua, Mexico, the future artist lived in Hermosillo and immigrated to Los Angeles when she was 11. Educated at UCLA and Cal State L.A., she married furniture retailer David Rickey and explored art while raising their three daughters. Moving through phases in terra cotta, bronze, marble and aluminum, she found little success until her later years. Rickey became one of the original art teachers at Everywoman’s Village, a pioneering learning center for women established by three housewives in Van Nuys in 1963. She also taught sculpture at the University of Judaism from 1965 to 1981. As Rickey became more successful, her sculptures were exhibited in such venues as Artspace Gallery in Woodland Hills and the Courtyard of Century Plaza Towers as part of a 1989 Sculpture Walk produced by the Los Angeles Arts Council. Her sculptures have also found their way into the private collections of such celebrities as Sharon Stone. When Rickey’s “The Family,” a 5-foot-tall bronze of a mother, father and two children, was sent to Nagoya in 1992, the artist received a certificate of commendation from Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter. Another of Rickey’s international creations originally stood at Santa Monica College. In 1985, her 12-foot-high musical sculpture shaped like the Hebrew letter “shin” was moved to the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The free-standing aluminum work has strings that vibrate in the wind to produce sounds. Rickey also created art pieces for the city of Brea and for the Vista del Mar Children and Family Services facility, where she frequently volunteered. On Friday in Santa Barbara of complications after heart surgery.