Elise Frank, Tampa. Hillsbrough River, oil on board, 9 by 12 inches.
Elise Frank moved to Tampa from Kansas City in 1911. Her first employment was with Fishbaugh Studios doing photo coloring. When Fishbaugh sold the studio to the Burgert Brothers, she continued to do photo coloring for the Burgert’s. Frank began advertising herself as an artist in the Tampa City Directory in 1925, and opened the Elise Frank Studios at 1114 Grand Central Avenue, in March 1926. She announced an exhibition of her painting at her studio in the Tampa Tribune, March 14, 1926. In 1928 Frank was employed as an art teacher at the Seaborn Academy on Davis Island and continued to teach there for nine years. She was an officer and an active member of the Students’ Art Club.
Her first commission in commercial art came from D.P. Davis, the founder of Davis Island, who wanted a comprehensive picture of the island. From the top of a grain elevator on Seddon Island, Frank painted a five by twelve foot painting which was shown in Florida cities and influenced many investors. As a result she had the opportunity to do paintings for other real estate developments. Frank opened the Florida Academy of Art adjacent to the Seaborn Academy in 1936. Here she began making small watercolor sketches of Florida scenes. Frank later changed the name of the school to the Elise Frank School of Art and moved it to Grand Central Avenue (now Kennedy Blvd). With her brother August W. Frank, an instructor in ceramics and mold making, they produced souvenir Florida pottery as Floramics. In 1950, with a professional engineering staff, she expanded the school to include drafting, architecture and engineering, as the Florida Institute of Technology. The school flourished from 1936 to 1977. Frank was a member of the Tampa Chamber of Commerce, served on its Beautification and Conservation Committee, and did the design for the landscaping of Bayshore Boulevard. A bronze portrait plaque of her’s is in the Scottish Rite Temple in Tampa.
Born: 1891, Haarlam, Holland.
Died: October 1981, Tampa.
Education: Jan Kleintjes Studio; at Heerde, with A. Weithkamp; Rotterdam, with W.C. Nakker; at the Hague.
Membership: Student’s Art Club; Florida Federation of Art; Tampa Art Institute; Southeastern Art Association; National League of American Pen Women; Beautification & Conservation Committee, Tampa Chamber of Commerce; Florida State Chamber of Commerce.
Exhibits: Florida State Fair, Tampa, February 1924, 2nd prize, oil, flowers from nature, 1st and 2nd oils, birds; Florida State Fair, Tampa, November 1935, Florida; Florida Federation of Art, 9th Annual Exhibit, Tampa, November 1935, honorable mention, professional, landscape; Students’ Art Club, Tampa Municipal Auditorium Gallery, February 1948; Florida National League of American Pen Women, Tampa Art Exhibit, January 1954, 1st prize; Students’ Art Club, Tampa, January 1960.
Directory: Elise Frank is first listed as an artist in the Tampa City Directory in 1921. The Tampa Directory locates her at Crescent Drive with the Sea Born Academy from 1928 to 1935. The Elise Frank School of Art is listed in the Tampa City Directory from 1949 to 1964, at 1510 Grand Central Avenue.
