Ellen Chisdes Neuberg
Age 85, of Shadyside, Pittsburgh, PA, surrounded by family, passed away peacefully at home after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
An award-winning painter and art enthusiast, Ellen owned GalleriE CHIZ in Shadyside, representing over 200 national, international, and outsider artists for 22 years. In 2017, GalleriE CHIZ became her own studio.
Ellen grew up as an only child in Great Neck, NY. She studied piano, playing by ear at age four, and was on a scholarship with a highly regarded pianist and teacher, Edwine Behre, in NY, until age 14, when her mother became ill. Ellen’s mother died when she was 16 and her life changed. She attended Syracuse University with a NY state scholarship, studying musical theater and speech therapy. She later worked as an editor for CBS-TV until the birth of her son. She directed musical theater, teaching in the New York City public schools for adult education at night. She moved six times in nine years with her family, before settling in Pittsburgh in December, 1969. She spent ten years, 17 days each month, on a boat (there were four) in her “other life,” and helped design a trawler in The Netherlands. She began to paint while her children were in school.
Ellen became active in various art groups, setting up exhibits in vacant stores. As a volunteer, she did art therapy with transplant patients at UPMC, and painted with patients at Children’s Hospital each June and July, selecting their art for the hospital’s annual Christmas card drive. She headed the yearly cancer drive in Upper St. Clair, and set up other art and antique exhibits, raising funds for the American Cancer Society. Moving to Shadyside and returning to college at age 49, she earned a B.A. degree in Psychology at Chatham College (1991), interning at Western Psychiatric Hospital with geriatric patients in both art and music therapies. In 1995, she launched GalleriE CHIZ on Ellsworth Avenue in Shadyside, and for 22 years represented, exhibited, and befriended over 200 artists from across the world.
Her paintings are what she called “abstract-surrealism.” They tell a story, present a conundrum, or provide social commentary. She was a long-time member of Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Society of Artists, The Pittsburgh Group, Group A, and exhibited her work in countless juried exhibitions, galleries, and museums. She was known for an award-winning, large painting titled, “Not Enough Time” at The Carnegie. Her paintings and funky sculptures appear in national, international, private, and corporate collections, in the film “American Pastoral” and European television series “Gone.” Recently, she was featured in a solo exhibit titled, “Living a Life…a Puzzlement,” lasting nine unexpected months during the pandemic in the Robertshaw Gallery at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.
Ellen, with love, was involved with her two children, of whom she was grateful and proud. Her five grandchildren are all adults now, and were special to her as well. People and their cultures fascinated her. She had been a “people person” forever, and grew up where the United Nations existed, before it moved to Manhattan. Because of her childhood, she had always appreciated groups from varied backgrounds. An eternal optimist, she always saw the best in people and made the most of every day. She chose to live her life in the present, and used humor and color not only in her art but as a way to make light of the difficulties, large and small, she had faced in her life, even considering doing some stand-up comedy with others’ encouragement along the way!
She met David Greenlee in 1994, called him her “miracle,” and they had been together ever since. Married in 2008, she found a love and happiness with him that many never find with their partners. Ellen pushed herself to remain active and engaged until the end. She is survived by her soulmate, best friend and husband, David Greenlee; her son, Steven Neuberg (Erika); her daughter, Suzanne Monnier (Alexandre); and grandchildren, Rachel Neuberg, Oscar Monnier, Zachary Neuberg, Olivia Monnier and Elliot Neuberg. Burial is at Homewood Cemetery. May her memory be a blessing. In lieu of flowers, donations to Shadyside Hospital Foundation and/or The Hillman Cancer Center are suggested. Visitation and a celebration of her life will be at the Homewood Cemetery Chapel, 1599 South Dallas Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15217, from 10 am to 11 am, on Sunday, October 6, 2024. Burial with friends and family to follow.
