Karen E. DeTar Lewis (1960-2004)   sculpted in clay, and wrote poetry and essays. FASCINATION was sculpted in the mid-1990s, and was originally presented to the Dunlap, Iowa Public Library where Karen’s mother and aunt were publishing the local newspaper.

		FASCINATION depicts a young boy deeply engrossed in a book.   Karen’s son Ellery was the model.   Karen sculpted other pieces showing children reading; examples are held by the public libraries at Wymore and Beatrice, Nebraska.
		Karen and her husband Terry Lewis moved to York in 1995 when Terry Lewis purchased a local funeral home. Karen was active in local and state-wide art associations.   She and Jeanie Gustafson did a live sculpture demonstration at the 1995 Nebraska State Fair.

Karen suffered a brain aneurysm in 1998 which deprived her of the fine motor skills necessary to continue sculpting.   She

remained active in the community, wrote, and collaborated with her mother on a 2003 book about her life — Karen and the Miracle of Life.   The book includes photos of Karen’s art, several of her poems, and a chapter she wrote titled, My Life in a Dysfunctional Body.   In addition to the aneurysm, Karen experienced recurring bouts of cancer.   After her death in March 2004, her mother, family, friends, York’s Artist Guild and Friends of the Library arranged to present a bronze casting of FASCINATION to Kilgore Memorial Library.

Other Nebraska artists’ comments on Karen’s work note her sculptures are “tender pieces giving us a moment of peace and joy as we move through life,” and “ha[ve] a gentleness … that everyone could identify with.” Local tributes recalled her grace and fortitude in trying circumstances. [Thanks to Doris Bingham for sharing photos and stories for this page.]

[Page under construction; additional links to image files are to be added.]