Gary Mauro was born in Walsenburg, Colorado in 1944 to Frank and Mariann Mauro. He was the second-oldest of the four Mauro children. Growing up, he was well-rounded—working for the family business at the Walsenburg Creamery, playing football at St. Mary’s, and diving competitively for which he earned a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma.
After attending the University of Oklahoma in 1963, Gary went on to Southern Colorado State College in 1964, followed by the University of Colorado Art School, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Art.
Beginning in 1973, Mauro had many one-man art shows in Colorado, New York City, California, New Mexico, Seattle, and Florida—as well as internationally in Milan, Italy and Tokyo, Japan.
In 1976 he built a studio in Taos and in 1982 he moved to a new gallery in Santa Fe. Through his years in New Mexico, he became “Santa Famous”—a familiar and respected face to the locals around town.
Gary considered himself a figurative sculptor working in essentially a neoclassical mode. He modeled fabric into female forms in the same way another artist might use clay. His subject was always the figure, and his main inspiration was the art of the Renaissance.
The largest of Mauro’s bas-reliefs is a 70-foot horizontal pageant of female figures, cougars and birds commissioned by the First National Bank of Abilene, Texas. Other Mauro relief’s are in the collections of the Denver Art Museum, the New Mexico Museum of Fine Art, IBM Corporation, Gannett Corporation, USA Today, Florida Today, El Centro College of Dallas, Texas, among others. Private collections include those belonging to actress Elizabeth Taylor and artist R.C. Gorman.
Gary was constantly creating new artwork but he was never too busy to have the kids in his studio, creating their own art. Inspired by his father, his son, Lucca Mauro, collaborated with Gary in a Father-Son Art Show at Windsor Betts Gallery in 2007.
Gary is survived by his wife, Eri Takahashi Mauro, son, Lucca Mauro and granddaughter, Mia Mauro, siblings Mick (Toni) Mauro, Donna (Don) Zinko, Randee (Viron) Huff, many nieces and nephews and Elizabeth and Kim Unger.
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