{{Short description|American artist}}{{Infobox person | birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|01|16}} | birth_place = Cincinnati, Ohio | death_date = {{Death date and age|2018|01|15|1924|01|16}} | death_place = Zionsville, Indiana | resting_place = Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation Cemetery South | alma_mater = Herron School of Art and Design | occupation = Artist | spouse = Harry Joseph Traugott | children = Joseph Henri and Dale Ellen | mother = Rose Minkovsky | father = Joseph Henri Schneider }}

'''Leah Schneider Traugott''' (16 January 1924, Cincinnati, Ohio – 15 January 2018, Zionsville, Indiana), also known as Leah S. Traugott, was an American award-winning watercolorist and educator. She exhibited in more than eighty one-person shows and numerous group exhibitions.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/indystar/obituary.aspx?n=leah-schneider-traugott&pid=187867055&fhid=14455|title=Leah Schneider Traugott Obituary|last=|first=|date=2018-01-17|website=Legacy.com from The Indianapolis Star|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-12-03}}</ref>

== Life == Leah S. Traugott was born in Cincinnati in a family of Joseph Henri Schneider and Rose Minkovsky.<ref name=":0" /> At the age of 6 she moved to Indianapolis.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Ford|first=Ken|date=13 August 1991|title=Floral Art Blossoms at Library|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/2518226/?terms=Leah%20Traugott&match=1|access-date=2021-05-15|website=The Kokomo Tribune at Newspapers.com|page=11|language=en}}</ref> She graduated from Shortridge High School in 1942 and Herron School of Art in 1946. During art school and later, she worked as a freelance fashion artist for H.P. Wasson and Company. Later she completed more study at Herron under Donald Mattison, Loran Dunlop, Garo Antresian, Edmund Brucker and John Taylor.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Jewish Post 28 February 1969 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program|url=https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=JPOST19690228-01.1.15|access-date=2019-12-03|website=newspapers.library.in.gov}}</ref>

Traugott worked as a commercial illustrator for large Indianapolis department stores and became known for her depictions of women’s shoes. Later she taught drawing and painting classes at the Indianapolis Art Center for three decades.<ref name=":0" /> She has also taught at the Jewish Community Center and at the Herron Museum.<ref name=":1" />

Traugott served on many boards including President of the Indiana Artist Club, the Executive Committee of the Washington Township Schools Planning Committee, and Secretary of the Women’s Committee of the Indiana State Symphony Society. Traugott was a member of the Pastel Society of America and Indiana Watercolor Society.<ref name=":2" /> She completed many adventure trips, including camping trek through the American Southwest in 1963; a drive throughout Mexico in 1964 and 1966; conventional trips to France, Italy, Israel, Peru, Guatemala and the Yucatan.<ref name=":0" />

She married Harry Joseph Traugott on June, 27th 1946 and had two children, Joseph Henri<ref>{{Cite web|date=21 October 1987|title=Exhibition at U. of I. keeps it in the family|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/312930459/?terms=Leah%20S.%20Traugott%20Indianapolis%20Museum%20of%20Art&match=1|access-date=2021-05-15|website=The Indianapolis News at Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> and Dale Ellen.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Garmel|first=Marion Simon|date=21 August 1976|title=A family Affair|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/312619490/?terms=Leah%20S.%20Traugott%20Museum%20of%20Art&match=1|access-date=2021-05-15|website=The Indianapolis News at Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> Leah S. Traugott died on January, 15th 2018 aged 93 and is buried at Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation Cemetery South.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/186680189/leah-s_-traugott|title=Leah S. Schneider Traugott|last=|first=|date=|website=Find a Grave|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-12-03}}</ref>

== Art and recognition == Traugott created her colorful floral paintings working mostly in oils and sometimes in pastels.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Garmel|first=Marion Simon|date=30 September 1977|title=Family Has its Art in the Altogether|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/312282746/?terms=Leah%20S.%20Traugott%20Museum%20of%20Art&match=1|access-date=2021-05-15|website=The Indianapolis News at Newspapers.com|language=en}}</ref> The two most important factors in her work were color and design. Her favorite subject was portraits,<ref name=":1" /> as well as floral still lives.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/60953561|title=Leah Traugott Floral Still Life Pastel '82|website=www.shopgoodwill.com|language=en-us|access-date=2019-12-03}}</ref> Traugott’s artworks captured the color and vibrancy of Indiana landscapes and gardens, emphasizing fine details and a fine-tuned sense of color harmonies.

Her work was selected for national juried exhibitions, including "Century of American Watercolors" at the Indianapolis Museum of Art; "MidYear Show" at the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio;<ref name=":1" /> "Watercolor USA" at the Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, Missouri; "Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition", Golden, Colorado; "National Exhibition of the Pastel Society of America", in New York; Miniature Painters, Sculptors, and Gravers Society of Washington, DC; and "Nature Interpreted" at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History.

She has won prizes in the Hoosier Salon; Indiana State Fairs; Whitewater Valley Exhibition; Herron Drawing prize and the Religious Art Exhibition.<ref>{{Cite web|date=28 Sep 1981|title=Commons Galleries Feature Paintings of Leah Traugott|url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/139281191/?terms=Leah%20S.%20Traugott%20Museum%20of%20Art&match=1|access-date=2021-05-15|website=The Republic at Newspapers.com|page=9|language=en}}</ref> She also won the $500 second prize in the Indiana Artist Club exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and a merit prize at the Anderson Fine Arts Center in 1993.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=JPOST19930512-01.1.2|title=Jewish Post 12 May 1993 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program|website=newspapers.library.in.gov|access-date=2019-12-03}}</ref> In addition, Traugott received awards from more than one hundred exhibitions, including the Indiana Artists Show at the Indianapolis Museum of Art; Kentucky Watercolor Society; Indiana Watercolor Society; and the Indiana Artists Club.<ref name=":0" />

She received Distinguished Alumni Award from Herron School of Art and Design for exemplary career achievement and service to her alma mater in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://herron.iupui.edu/alumni/awards/index.html|title=Alumni Awards|website=Herron School of Art + Design|language=en|access-date=2019-12-03}}</ref>

Traugott’s achievements are mentioned in ''The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis.''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bg13QcMSsq8C&q=Leah+Traugott&pg=PA216|title=The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis|last1=Bodenhamer|first1=David J.|last2=Barrows|first2=Robert G.|date=1994-11-22|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-11249-1|language=en}}</ref>

== Exhibitions ==

* Indianapolis Art Center<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Eh0DAAAAMBAJ&q=Leah+Traugott&pg=PA44|title=Indianapolis Monthly|last=Communications|first=Emmis|date=1999-09-01|publisher=Emmis Communications|isbn=|location=|pages=|language=en}}</ref>

== Collections ==

* Indianapolis Museum of Art<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://collection.imamuseum.org/results.html?query=Leah+Traugott&has_image=T|title=Indianapolis Museum of Art Collection Search|website=collection.imamuseum.org|access-date=2019-12-03}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Traugott, Leah}} Category:1924 births Category:2018 deaths Category:20th-century American artists Category:21st-century American artists Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:20th-century American women artists Category:21st-century American women artists Category:Herron School of Art and Design alumni