EARLY YEARS
Renée Radell (née Kaupiz) was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1929, the younger daughter of immigrants from the Middle East. When her father lost his business during the Great Depression, their family moved to Detroit, Michigan, then the automotive capital of the world, where Radell attended the prestigious Cass Technical High School in recognition of her evident artistic talent. Declining a full scholarship for fashion design at New York City’s Pratt Institute, Radell chose to study fine arts on scholarship at Detroit Society of Arts & Crafts (now College for Creative Studies), where she studied painting under Art School Director Sarkis Sarkisian and life drawing under Robert Diebboll.
Radell’s skill with watercolor in her early years of art school soon led to a steady stream of top regional prizes for watercolor techniques at art institutions, curated art shows, and private art and business organizations. Local press exposure and purchase awards of her watercolor paintings followed from Detroit Institute of Arts, Walter. P. Chrylsler Museum, and the Dearborn Art Institute.
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1929
Born Renée Katherine Kaupiz in Birmingham, Alabama, daughter of Genevieve and Elias Louis Kaupiz.
1937
Moves with family to Detroit, Michigan.
1941
On its youth page, The Detroit News publishes her early war commentary drawings on several occasions.
1944
Selected by her teachers to attend a nationally acclaimed art program at Detroit's Cass Technical High School, from which she graduates with highest honors.
1947
Accepts 4-year National Scholastic Art Scholarship to attend the Art School of the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts (currently, College for Creative Studies). Studies painting under Sarkis Sarkasian and life drawing under Robert Diebboll.
1949
2010+ | Timeline Index | 1950s