Ask Essie Perlmutter how long she has been making art, and the answer is simple: “All my life,” she says.
“All my life” means nine decades, a remarkable 90 years that have also included marriage to her beloved “Jordy,” raising her four children, and adoring her 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
And let’s not forget the twice-weekly workouts she still does with a trainer who keeps urging her to “tighten up your tuchus!”
On the opening night of her new art show at Shalom Park—a place that holds special meaning in her heart—Essie told the story of her life in art with a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor.
We’ll hear more about that in a moment, but first, take a moment to reflect on the remarkable accomplishment of a woman who, at age 90, still is creating and sharing her work.
“Let’s be honest—there is a lot of good art out there, and it takes chutzpah to show art publicly, but keeping my pieces in the studio doesn’t make sense,” Essie says. “Believe it or not, I am shy. But whatever I have attempted, I got a lot out of it, and you are never too old to learn, to have a hobby, to stay current, so take a chance!”
A lifelong learner
“From the time I could hold a crayon, my hands have always been busy.”
With those words, Essie began her remarks at the Shalom Park show, titled “Through Essie’s Eyes.” She described a child who saw art everywhere—in “clouds shaped like umbrellas, flowers blooming in alleyways, and imaginary puppies I longed to have.”
When she was about eight or nine, a teacher suggested that she had a special talent and urged her mother to pay for private lessons.
“This was back in the day when teachers, rabbis, and doctors were always right,” she says. “So off I went.”
The teacher, a skilled oil painting instructor, handed her a photo, told her to copy it, and then the teacher touched it up with her own brush. That did not offer the creative freedom Essie was seeking. But she had new opportunities at North High School, taking art as an elective and studying portraiture under Madame Marianne Haussman, who had fled Vienna before World War II.
In 1952, she graduated from North and enrolled at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her first day in the studio, she found herself standing among “wildly talented students” and viewing a live nude male model.
“So I did what any self-respecting, modest young woman of the ‘50s might do,” Essie says. “I got engaged.”
Within the year, Essie and Jordan Perlmutter were married, and her interest in the arts took a back seat to the responsibilities of being a wife and mother. She did keep her creative juices flowing with art courses, but it would take 27 years for her to return to school and earn a BA in Art from Loretto Heights College. Two weeks after graduation, she became a grandmother for the first time.
“Let’s just say my 40-year journey to a degree rivaled Moses leading the Israelites through the desert to the promised land,” Essie told her listeners at the art show opening.
Through the years, Essie has worked in a variety of media and styles—oils, acrylics, mixed media, needle art, ink, charcoal, pastel, pottery, and sculpture. Her current show reflects her fascination with geometric design.
“Not because I loved Geometry—I gave up after the first hypotenuse,” she says. “But because I fell in love with the structure, balance, and boldness of shape. These paintings are not just decorative—they’re explorations. They reflect a desire to express something honest and free.”
What would Jordy say?
Having a show at Shalom Park carries special meaning for Essie and her entire family. Jordon Perlmutter was a pioneer in Colorado real estate development, overseeing the development of thousands of single- and multi-family homes and millions of square feet of retail and office space.
He was also active in the philanthropic community, with particular dedication to what was then called Beth Israel at Shalom Park, a nonprofit nursing home and retirement community in Aurora. Jordon led the campaign to raise the initial $14 million to buy the land and get the project built in 1992. He served on the board until his death in 2015.
“My husband was a first-generation American,” says Essie. “His parents were older when he was born, and he had a deep respect for his father and for the older generation. He just thought Denver needed a place like Shalom Park.”
Essie and Jordon have a long list of lifetime achievement awards to their credit, and Essie has her own list of art awards, starting with National Art Scholastic Contest Honorable Mentions in 1950, 1951, and 1952.
Although she says she has “never painted to sell, only to improve,” her art can be viewed throughout the Denver metro area in public and private collections and in buildings that house Jewish organizations.
Her remarks at the Shalom Park show were filled with gratitude—she expressed thanks to the entire staff and board at Shalom Park and to the supportive, talented women she has painted with for the past 10 years under the guidance of Boris Shoshansky.
Essie’s only nod to her age was in a quick reference to “this Old Grey Mare ain’t what she used to be,” as she thanked her daughter Lisa Cook and her “honorary daughter” Leslie Heins for stepping in to help with event planning.
And what would Jordy say about this latest show mounted in Shalom Park, a place that he brought to life?
“He was very right-brained, so he would need an explanation of the contemporary art,” Essie says with a laugh. “But he would be very proud.”