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Sister Mary Jane Robertshaw, O.S.U., an art professor for four decades at the College of New Rochelle, died April 21 at Andrus on Hudson in Hastings-on-Hudson. She was 90.
She taught modern art, philosophy of art, ceramics, sculpture and weaving, 1957 to 1997.
After studying weaving on sabbatical in Finland, she created the campus weaving studio. A subsequent sabbatical took her to Botswana to teach woodcarving to the bushmen of the Kalahari, so they could sell their works at market. She also studied Islamic art at New York University, the art of India at Columbia University and Celtic art in France and Ireland.
She retired from classroom teaching in 1997 then served as artist-in-residence for 15 years.
She was instrumental in establishing the Castle Gallery at the College of New Rochelle, where she was a member of the board for many years.
She is also known for the life-size wooden sculpture of St. Angela Merici, founder of the Ursuline Sisters, which now is in the chapel at the Ursuline Province Center in New Rochelle.
At Andrus on Hudson, she offered workshops in art for residents.
Born in Greensburg, Pa., she entered the Ursuline Sisters in 1951 and made final vows in 1957. She earned a bachelor’s degree in art from the College of New Rochelle and a master’s in fine arts from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
Burial was at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at a later date.
