W Carole Harrison

Wilberta Carole Harrison "Carole", 88 of Kalamazoo, Michigan, passed away at North Woods Village Memory Care on April 4, 2022. Carole was born October 30, 1933, in Chicago, Illinois to Wilber Luther Harrison (Harry) and Helen Elizabeth Mackey. A practicing artist working in the mediums of both cast and welded metals, as well as drawing and painting, Carole began her training in sculpture at Monticello College in Alton, IL subsequently earning her B.F.A and M.F.A in Sculpture at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI. Upon completion of her studies at Cranbrook, she was the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship for study in sculpture at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, England and a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant and she is also included in "Contemporary American Women Sculptors", Oryx Press, 1986. Carole was tasked with the founding of the sculpture department at Western Michigan University where she was initially the sole instructor. In addition to Western, Carole taught at Kalamazoo College, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Interlochen Arts Academy, and was a visiting artist at Ox-Bow School of Arts and Artists' Residency, Saugatuck, MI. After her tenure at WMU, Carole taught for two years at State University at New York and pursued private school instruction and visiting professorships attaining the rank of Associate Professor over her 20-year career. Carole was a member of The Sculptors Guild where she has remained an active member for over two decades. Over her lifetime, she has produced pieces that are on display in permanent collections throughout the United States including; The Oak Park Library in Oak Park, IL, The New Wilderness Foundation in New York, Hope College in Holland, MI, The Hackley Art Museum in Muskegon, MI, The Uptown Savings and Loan in Chicago, IL, The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts in Kalamazoo, MI, The Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, MI, Cottey College, Nevada, MO, and Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, AZ. Additionally, her work is included in several private collections across the country, has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, and been the recipient of several awards and commissions. The matriarch of her family, Carole was young at heart, found joy in the natural world, had a passion for landscape gardening and for nearly 60 years summering on the Georgian Bay, Canada. She showed genuine interest in the lives of her family and friends, was a good listener and was positive, enthusiastic, and supportive of those she cared for. Carole had the innate ability to temper the giving of her advice, guidance, and direction with kindness and, often, genuine affection, and was a much-admired mentor to her students, many of whom she kept in touch with over the years. Carole was the last of her generation, preceded in death by her parents, brothers, Carter and Charles and sister, Catherine Hall. She is survived by three nieces and one nephew: Debra Malouf, Leslie Harrison, Rona Walstra, and Anthony Walstra (Denise), and eight grand nieces and nephews. Carole chose cremation and the services are to be private. The family wishes to thank the staff and aides at North Woods Village and Centrica Care Navigators (formerly Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan) for their care. Arrangements entrusted to Langeland Family Funeral Homes Burial & Cremation Services, 3926 S. 9th St, Kalamazoo MI 49009. To view Carole's personalized web page, please visit https://www.langelands.com