About the Artist: Michelle M Gladish
Michelle Gladish was born in Vallejo, California on July 29th 1943 to Mildred "Micci" and Frank Ramsey and became the younger sister to William Ramsey. Frank and Micci later divorced. Micci moved to Hammond and would later marry Earnest Coleman. They would have two sons together Gary and David.
Michelle was a devoted member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Hammond, Indiana. While going to school at Hammond Tech, she worked in downtown Hammond at Goldblatt's Department store. After graduation from Hammond Tech, she attended the Art Institute of Chicago for a period of time. She later met her husband, Allan S., a marriage that would last 58 years. They were married in October of 1963 and a year and a half later, they had their first child, Jeffrey. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where their second son was born, David. Difficult times in Cedar Rapids, forced the young family to move back to Hammond, settling down in a small house on the 6200 block of Garfield Ave. Shortly thereafter, their third and last child, Donna was born in 1971.
Micci had a ceramic shop named The Studio on Conkey St. in Hammond. Once Micci retired and moved to the Ozarks, Michelle and her brother, David, took over the building. The store was renamed GladCo Arts, a combo of the names Gladish and Coleman. Later Michelle and Allan, went all in on GladCo Arts. Allan quit his job at Munster Lumber and went to work with Michelle doing custom framing, while she painted and gave art lessons at their new Munster location at 245 Ridge Rd. This would be the time that her talent began to really show. Her work has been featured in Southwest Art, Art of the West, Equine Images and on covers of Anvil Magazine. Portraits have always been among her favorites, and her series of angels as children are now available as limited editions. She also became a signature member of Women Artists of the West and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.
As they became older, they downsided the business and moved it to Indianapolis Ave, in Highland, IN and purchased a home on the 7800 block of Hohman Av. in Munster, IN. When not painting or spending time with family, Michelle loved riding her beloved horse, Beau. She had 3 children - Jeffrey (Eleanor) Gladish, David (Kelly) Gladish, Donna (Paul) Velgos; and 4 granddaughters - Alexis & Arielle Gladish, Anya & Mila Velgos. She sadly left the world on April 19th, 2020 after a tough battle with dementia. Her service was held at Burns Kish Funeral Home in Munster and her body cremated. Her art lives on.