Object ID
2003.37.30
Object Name
Picture, Woven
Object Collection
JANE SARLAS FONTANA (is part of)
Alternative Name
Embroidery
Material
Glass; Wood; Wool
Object Description
This is a needlepoint piece of a man and woman in front of a large window. The man is seating on the window sill facing the woman, who is standing at his side, reaching for his outstretched hand. On the right side of the piece are some hanging art pieces and some kind of furniture piece. On the left side of the couple is a hanging wall clock and a plant sitting atop a dresser of some kind. The needlepoint piece is in a simple wooden frame with a hanging wire attached to the back of the frame.
Origin
This piece was donated by Chris Sarlas from his aunt, Jane Sarlas Fontana's estate.

Jane Sarlas-Fontana was a writer and kindergarten teacher at McClellan Elementary School for 34 years. A native Chicagoan, Mrs. Sarlas-Fontana received her bachelor's degree from Chicago Teachers College and got her first and only school position at McClellan School, in 1956. Young Richard M. Daley was her student, and his sister, Eleanor, student-taught under her. Several other prominent Chicagoans, including Mayors Michael Bilandic and Harold Washington and Ald. Patrick Huels also visited her classroom in Bridgeport. From Room 104, Mrs. Sarlas-Fontana played the piano, sang songs and wrote lyrics on the board, teaching her pupils to read even before reading was expected of kindergartners. Mrs. Sarlas-Fontana wrote a series of religious children's books called, "The Adventures of Spero, the Orthodox Church Mouse." She used them in her Sunday school classes at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Oak Lawn, where she was Sunday school director for 25 years. Mrs. Sarlas-Fontana also had a column in a Chicago newspaper, The Greek Star, called "Jane's Jottings" that she often ended with a favorite phrase, "for the love of children."

Chris Sarlas has an orchestra company which plays at weddings in the Chicago land area. He went to the DePaul School of Music.
Rights and Reproduction
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Citation
Picture, Woven, JANE SARLAS FONTANA, National Hellenic Museum, https://collections.nationalhellenicmuseum.org/Detail/objects/7092. Accessed 04/25/24.