Fran Kaminsky: Shaping A Second Act

Retirement was just the beginning for one of Savannah’s most notable sculptors

Four words you’ll never hear from sculptor Fran Kaminsky are, “Find me on Facebook.”

“I don’t have a webpage, and I’m not on social media,” Kaminsky says with a laugh. “So I never really thought my work would sell.”

Creating art was a choice Kaminsky made solely for herself. She had recently retired as Vice President and Chief Academic Officer at South College (now South University), her children were all out of college, and she was ready to try—and potentially fail—making sculpture.

“I had always wanted to do it, but now I had the time,” she recalls. “I thought it could be fun. And if I wasn’t any good, that was okay, too.”

The Moment You’re In

Kaminsky was born in Savannah, the first person in her family born in the United States. Her parents had emigrated from Poland in 1949, after spending nearly four years in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany after the war. Kaminsky’s older sister was born in the DP camp.

“Your parents’ perspective flows through you, and I think my older sister and younger sister would say the same,” Kaminsky says. “We learned a great sense of appreciation for whatever situation you may find yourself, because that respect and value for the moment you’re in can be a source of happiness. And they understood that things could be worse.”

This perspective helped Kaminsky to appreciate all of the ups and downs in life, even when the demands of family, career and volunteer service didn’t leave any time for creative expression.

“Our worldview was that you keep going,” she says. “You don’t complain. I knew people for whom, no matter how far they had come in life, nothing was ever enough. My perspective was the opposite.”

Seeing The Dimensions

Kaminsky was named among “9 Artists To Know” by Savannah Magazine in 2018, but being known for her art was not a goal when she first started learning the art of sculpture. She simply had a passion for the medium.

“I love the three dimensions, seeing the whole face, seeing the whole figure,” she says.

Kaminsky found private lessons with an art teacher working with water-based clay, the kind used in ceramics. She found herself fascinated with the art of molding faces and figures, and often used her grandchildren as inspiration.

“When you’re first starting, you have to overcome a little anxiety,” Kaminsky says. “‘Can I do it? Can I use this clay to make this face or this figure look a certain way?’ But then you can get so focused that the anxiety goes away. Then there is just this connection with this person that you are creating.”

As she gained experience, Kaminsky shifted her focus to oil-based clay, which does not need to be kept wet or to be finished as quickly as water-based clay. Finished works are often cast in metals such as bronze in a special factory called a foundry. There is no foundry in Savannah, so Kaminsky’s work has to be shipped off to be finished, a process which can be both stressful and financially demanding.  

The difficulty in creating cast bronze artwork means Kaminsky is one of a handful of local sculptors, though she did find kindred spirits and mentors in Susie Chisholm and the late Judy Mooney. Both artists had their work shown in Bluffton’s Four Corners gallery and encouraged Kaminsky to do the same.

“When someone sees something in your work, something they like and perhaps want to take home with them, it’s very flattering,” she says. “It feels good. But more importantly, it feels good when you are doing it. I think that is something everyone should try to find, whether it’s the arts, athletics or whatever—something that gives you joy.”

Enjoying Your New Role

While being included in gallery shows and magazine features may have been a pleasant surprise, the pleasure of choosing how she spends her time was always a part of Kaminsky’s plan.

“I had seen too many people who retired and suddenly they were lost,” she says.

A study of retirees and older adults in 2022 found that the prevalence of depression among retirees was significantly higher than that of the overall older adult population. Depression can not only affect a person’s quality of life, it can also affect physical health. It is considered a risk factor for health problems such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Research has shown that while freedom from job stress benefits many retirees, there are also many who struggle when they are not certain what their new role in life should be. Kaminsky was cognizant of that pitfall and planned to strike a balance between family time, volunteer service and her artwork.

“Retirement isn’t fun if you don’t have something you want to do,” she says. “It doesn’t have to be another job or something that makes you money, but it should give you a focus, direct your time and let you get out of your own head for a moment. You’ll find a lot of satisfaction in that, and you’ll feel better.”