Artist and EC professor Suellen Rocca passes away

World-renowned artist and Elmhurst College professor Suellen Rocca passed away at 76 years old on Friday, March 26. 

Rocca became a part of EC in 2006, where she began her position as curator and director of exhibitions, bringing her passion for art onto the campus. 

While in her position, Rocca was responsible for overseeing EC’s collection of Chicago Imagist and Abstract Art, which included her artwork. Rocca’s passion for art led the EC's collection to be recognized internationally in places like New York City and Milan, among other cities.  

Rocca made a name for herself in the art world in 1966 as part of the Hairy Who, a group of six Chicago-based visionary artists who curated bold and graphic pieces of art at Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago’s South Side. 

“A fiercely original artist whose hieroglyphic, phantasmagoric work poked a finger in the eye of late-20th-century modernist purities,” said Randy Kennedy, reporter at The New York Times who wrote about Rocca’s passing. 

During her life, Rocca graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the School of the Art Institute in 1964, received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from SAIC in 2016, and the Art Institute of Chicago held an exhibit in 2018 honoring the artwork of the Hairy Who and their contributions to the Chicago art scene. 

Rocca is survived by her two children and three grandchildren. EC will hold a memorial service in her honor.