Obituary of Gloria Anne Torrice
Celebrating a Life of Art
September 22, 1924 -July 18, 2022
A talented painter, lover of jazz music, and nature. Gloria was a spirited, fun loving, and adventurous woman. A true nonconformist who declared that, “art is my religion.”
Born on September 22, 1924, she grew up during the depression and experienced firsthand the challenges of that time. She remembered how her mother served hot cocoa and bread for dinner because they did not have enough food to put on the table. Her compassion for those less fortunate lasted throughout her entire lifetime.
Her talent and love of art sprang from her Italian family. She studied at Arts High school in Newark, New Jersey and then went to New York City to study painting and work as a textile artist. She became part of the Abstract Expressionist art scene and its lively parties, poetry readings and jazz music.
She met and fell in love with a jazz musician, George Torrice, in 1954 and they had a mad love affair which resulted in the birth of their daughter Andrea. With the arrival of their second daughter, Liana, they moved out of New York to the Forest Hills section of Newark,New Jersey, where her mother, brother, and other relatives lived close by. She loved the house, her first permanent home, and lived there with her husband and children for forty years. That house was filled with the sounds of jazz music, artworks, the smells of Italian food, and the laughter and conversations at dinner parties with friends and family. She was also an ardent advocate for peace, social justice, and the protection of the environment.
Gloria loved Newark and was an admirer of its history and architecture as well as a passionate lover of Branch Brook Park with its magnificent springtime cherry blossoms. A bench dedicated in her memory will soon be placed in this park.
She is survived by her two daughters, Andrea and Liana, and
her 3 grandchildren Corbin, Alexander, and Michael whom she adored.
Donations in her memory can be made to the
West Orange Arts Council which supported her art:
https://woarts.org/donate-2/
You can also see her in the short video documentary Art as Action here.