Leonard lived at the Fellowship with his wife Millie. An art show of paintings and etchings at the Fellowship earlier in 2022 was widely appreciated.
Leonard wrote about his own life story:
"I was born in Brooklyn 90 years ago to a family of 5 children. Unfortunately, our mother died when I was 3 and our father could not manage such a large family so the three youngest, including me, went to an orphanage where I lived throughout high school. My brother a year older, and I, were thought to be twins so we originally were assigned to the same class. When the school realized their error, I was sent back a grade, thereby diminishing my enthusiasm for school. Luckily, I was always drawing and this skill got teachers interested and encouraged my passion.
I was also a good swimmer and easily got jobs during the summer and also worked for a time as lifeguard at the St George Hotel in Brooklyn. My interest in swimming also led me to Coney Island where I performed acrobatics with other like-minded guys.
I was seen and scouted to perform in an Arab tumbling group. We performed all over the country on a variety of stages and I was the top man in a pyramid.
After the Army where I was a diving performer, I enrolled in the California College of Arts and Design. I was determined to be an artist. To support myself I worked as a makeup artist at CBS and worked with many famous TV and movie stars.
I married a fellow artist and we lived in Ibiza, Spain for the better part of one year, painting and enjoying island life where I could spearfish for dinner. We later moved to her hometown in West Virginia where I built a career out of etching nature scenes on handmade knives for collectors - all the time continuing to paint and make copper plate etchings.
When my marriage ended in divorce I moved to Pittsburgh and there met Millie who became my second wife. My passion for the arts has never dimmed and I continue to find new ways to find fulfillment. You will almost never see me without a pencil in my hands, always finding something to draw."
Among many other exhibitions, Leonard's work has been selected for shows at the Schoelkoof Gallery (NYC), Carnegie Mellon Art Gallery (Pittsburgh), Cummer Museum of Art (Jacksonville), Palmer Museum of Art (State College PA), Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Rhode Island Museum of Art, Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art (NYC), American Color Print Society, Society of American Graphic Artists.
His work is also held in collections at the Hirshhorn Museum (Washington DC), the New York Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), the Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh). His etchings have won many awards from professional graphic arts exhibits.
To make a gift to the Fellowship Community in honor of Leonard Leibowitz please visit
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