Meredith Ann Luhrs, age 87, of Switzerland County, Indiana, beloved artist, teacher, and community leader, passed away at 1:13 p.m., Friday, March 28, 2025 at Swiss Villa Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Vevay, Indiana. Born on October 21, 1937 in East Orange, New Jersey, Meredith was the daughter of Henry and Elsie Mary (Richardson) Luhrs. She grew up in Matawan, New Jersey, and graduated from Arts High School in Newark in 1955. She completed college at Cooper Union in New York City. Her passion for art led her to a career in teaching and sculpting, influencing many students and fellow artists throughout her life. Meredith married Floyd Arnold in 1958 in New Jersey and this union was blessed with five children. In the 1970’s, she and Floyd operated Arnold Associates, manufacturing interior curtains to outfit the power boats and sailing yachts built by the Luhrs boat building companies. She studied pottery at Monmouth College in New Jersey and then in the late 1970’s her interest shifted to sculpture, where she began working under the tutelage of Hungarian-born sculptor Geza DeVegh. In 1981, Meredith moved to Vienna, Austria and was able to sit as an auditor with the Sculpture class of Wander Bertoni at the Hochschule für angewandte Kunst in Vienna. During that year the class had a stone carving symposium at the open air sculpture park in Lindabrunn, Austria. Her interest in bronze casting and in stone carving was set, and Bertoni encouraged her to continue her work in the international sculpture town in Tuscany, Pietrasanta, nestled between the sea and the mountains with sheer white faces of the famous Carrara marble quarries of Massa. She resided in Northfield, Massachusetts for two years and was later united in marriage to Michael Wertheim and they moved to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where Meredith was a member of the Michigan Gem and Mineral Society and loved a brisk swim in chilly water of Lake Superior. A dedicated educator, Meredith taught art in Newark, New Jersey. In 1998 Meredith moved to Switzerland County, where her daughter had settled. She taught art at the Switzerland County High School for two years. Her teenage students had entries which not only won individually, but collectively, like a championship basketball team, dominating the state prizes – she was so proud of them. Just over twenty years ago, inspired by the First Fridays in Philadelphia, Meredith started the First Friday gallery hop from the Luhrs Studio Gallery on the top floor of the I.O.O.F. building on Main Street in Vevay, Indiana. Creaky knees be damned, people would make the three story climb and arrive out of breath to view a solo show in the foyer, or the group show in the vast main gallery space. Her whimsical rack card, perhaps inspired by Marc Chagall, featured a woman floating at an angle above a zig-zag line which represented the stairs — the wishful thinking slogan declared, “Art Lifts You Up”. In 2008, she opened Click Gallery on Ferry Street in Vevay, Indiana, and was the driving force behind the founding of the Community Art Center of Switzerland County, which offered the street level visibility and accessibility she yearned for. The town’s art scene blossomed. In 2005, she established “First Friday” in Vevay, an event that continues to celebrate every month with the featured artist of the month at the Community Art Center, special music in the Opera Park, games, shopping, as well as dining. Meredith was a member of the Concord Community Church in Patriot, Indiana. After Meredith’s health started declining, she became a resident at Swiss Villa Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Vevay, Indiana, where years earlier she had led the “Creative Hour,” bringing expression, color, and joy to the residents. Meredith was a valued member of the Switzerland County community, where she shared her talent as a professional artist and mentor. She had a unique gift for encouraging artists to share their creativity with others anywhere she went in life. Through her dedication, many found the confidence to showcase their work at the Community Art Center in Vevay. Her artistic talent will live on forever in the hearts of the Switzerland County community she so dearly loved, a lasting testament to her creativity and passion.
Meredith is survived by her children, Matthew Arnold and his wife René Creasey of Urbanna, VA, Jennifer Delgado and her husband, Miguel of Manasquan, NJ, and Sarah Thompson and her husband, John of Florence, IN; her 11-grandchildren; her 12-great-grandchildren; her brother, John Luhrs of St. Augustine, FL; her sisters, Linda Donohoe of Danville, PA, and Debbie Luhrs of Newport, RI, and her several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her father, Henry Luhrs, died May 9, 1979; her mother, Elsie Mary (Richardson) Luhrs, died June 27, 1984; her infant sons, Stephen Arnold, died in 1965 and Benjamin Arnold, died in 1971; her brother, Warren Luhrs; her sister-in-law, Eleanor Luhrs, and her brother-in-law, Redge Donohoe.
Meredith’s wishes were to be cremated and her cremains to be interred in the Old Tennent Churchyard Cemetery in Manalapan, New Jersey.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Smile Train, P.O. Box 96231, Washington, DC. 20090-6231. Cards are available at the funeral home or online at www.haskellandmorrison.com
“Color Is Your Birthright”
–Meredith Luhrs