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| JOANNA TYKA |
| Lives to paint |
| And paints to live |
Tyka knew early that art would always be part of her life. At age 6 she won a children's art competition and felt her first real reward
from painting. While aiming to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, she grew to love music and sports as well as art. She attended
the Warsaw Philharmonic regularly as a child and developed a solid understanding of classical music, which later became a strong theme of her
paintings. Skiing, tennis, flying and sailing -- she is a past national champion of Poland in small boats -- built a drive to compete and
achieve that serves her well as she forges an artistic career in one country after another.
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She graduated with honors from the Academy of Fine Arts and had a show at the Zacheta Museum, one of the most prestigious art institutions in
Poland. Soon she realized that the Poland of the 1970s was not suited politically and economically to an artist of her wide-ranging spirit and
drive. The path of emigration had taken her mother to Canada and her sister to France; Joanna Tyka went to Germany and settled in Hamburg, where
her passion for sailing could thrive. She worked in design -- on graphics, fashion and tapestry -- and as a sailing correspondent. Always, too, she
painted. She lived for a while in Mallorca, Spain. In Germany she won many art awards, including the Altona Prize in Hamburg, and her work was
exhibited in museum shows. Yet she was looking for new inspiration, and finally moved to Miami.
Tropical colors and flora now influence Tyka's painting. Some critics have identified a "Tyka style" in her startling coloring and dynamism and
whimsical portrayals of life in South Florida. Themes from Latin America and the Caribbean abound on her canvas.
The Tyka style has allowed her to create strong relationships with fine art societies and galleries in the United States and Europe. She has had
many commissions, especially from the world of music. The Princeton Boys Choir and the Philadelphia Boys Choir have Tyka paintings hanging in their
offices. Her special design for the University of Miami School of Music hangs at Gusman Hall on the campus. She did stage design
for concerts and music festivals. The Florida International University Music Festival has used Tyka art during its concerts. The Schleswig-Holstein
Music Festival in Germany and Festival Miami of the University of Miami School of Music have shown Tyka art. She created 11 covers for
the Playbill magazine for the Florida Philharmonic and a poster for a new season. Her paintings have been exhibited
under auspices of the Miami City Ballet.
Her works have been shown in ART Expo in New York and Los Angeles. She was involved in creating a large mural for "El Día de los Muertos" in Los
Angeles; also there she created works for a benefit for the Starlight Foundation for sick children. Furniture design is yet another aspect of her
work, and her musical chair has been shown in many concert series and at the Sofa annual art expo in Chicago.
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She has won prizes at the Coral Gables Art Competition several times. Norwegian Cruise Lines has auctioned her paintings and used them as
décor on their ships.
The Tyka Puppet Production, with stage and theater of her own design, has been shown in connection with Barnes
and Noble's children's shows, at the Highlands Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina, the Harid Conservatory Summer Series in Boca Raton,
and in connection with the Greater Miami Opera at Vizcaya.
Tyka has shared her love of art by teaching. In Germany she taught art classes at the Anthroposofic Institute of Rudolf Steiner and at
Volks Schools. In Miami she has taught at Miami Dade College, the Jewish Community Center and Coral Gables Community Center. She has studied
also at the Gemological Institute of America.
Tyka has been in Miami for 18 years but always said,
Not Forever.
She lives now in Richmond, VA.
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