Venice 1973

Venice 1973 is a series of 25 pieces of mail art commemorating my grandmother, Dorothy Nykiel.  She would have turned 95 years old this week (October 10).  Each piece includes an image of grandma in her Jackie O sunglasses and smart, faux leopard fur coat visiting Venice in February 1973.  This was no vacation, but one of many overseas business trips.  As a child I thought it was nothing out of the ordinary that my grandmother was a buyer for the china, glassware, lamps and gift departments of a large department store.  She travelled often to New York and annually to Hong Kong and Europe.  This was in an era when a trip to California was still “exotic” for many people.   My grandmother also did the “traditional” grandma things like baking amazing apple pies and spoiling us properly for birthdays and holidays.   It was not until I was an adult, that I understood how remarkable that it was for a woman of her generation to have the career she had and that my grandmother was somewhat of a pioneer.