Melville P. Steinfels (1910-1997)
A mural and fresco painter, illustrator, designer and educator, Steinfels was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago School of Design.
He created murals, buon fresco, fresco secco, mosaic and ceramic tile for St. Ignatius Auditorium, Chicago; Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Indianapolis (destroyed by water damage in 1978); Church of the Epiphany, Chicago; Loyola University, Chicago; St. Mary's Capuchin Seminary, Crown Point, Indiana; Newman Club, Ann Arbor, Michigan; St. Mary Magdalen Church, Melvindale, Michigan, and others.
It is said that he was known to work from 6:30 A.M. one morning until 5:30 A.M. the next morning.
Steinfels taught drawing, painting and design at Siena Heights College from 1945 to 1950.
He died in Chicago in August of 1997, at the age of 86.
Sources include:
Who's Who in American Art 1947, 1973
Additional information courtesy of Charles Eble
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