Sarah Gettleman Silberman, 98, a classically trained artist who spent her later years taking art classes at Montgomery College and mentoring young artists, died May 29 from heart disease at a hospice facility in Callao, Virginia. She was a Silver Spring resident.

Sarah Gettleman was born on September 10, 1909, in Odessa, Ukraine. She spent her youth in Brazil and Atlantic City, New Jersey, where her parents owned a fur store. Before her senior year in high school, she took summer painting and drawing classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) in Chester Springs, Pa. The sculpture instructor invited her to join his class and she discovered a true passion for working in clay and creating sculptures. She once said, “I love to use my hands. And I love clay; I just love clay.”

After high school, she continued her education at the PAFA in Chester Springs and in Philadelphia, winning several prestigious art awards and exhibiting her sculptures throughout the mid-Atlantic area. No formal degrees were offered at the school at that time, but she did earn a certificate of satisfaction.

In 1931, she married Dave Silberman, a childhood friend, who supported her interest in art. He joined her parents in the furrier business in Atlantic City.

In 1941, the Silbermans and their two young sons moved to Washington, D.C., where her cousin, Joe Andelman, invited her husband to join his new business Jandel Furs. Mrs. Silberman took art classes at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, practiced art in a studio on 7th Street, NW, and gave private art lessons. During World War II, she worked at the Corcoran, teaching sculpture. She also volunteered in the occupational therapy unit at Walter Reed Hospital.  

The Silbermans moved to the Silver Spring suburbs in 1950. Mrs. Silberman set about building an art studio with the help of her two sons and do-it-yourself books. No blueprints guided their work, just her rough sketches. As work progressed, she earned her electrician’s license, got a permit and wired the studio. With her attention focused on construction, she withdrew from the Washington art scene and worked privately in her studio.

The studio also served as the family’s home, but Mrs. Silberman had ambitious plans for a two-story home. She began work in 1957 with the help of one son and a nephew.

When her daughter-in-law passed away, she helped her son Bill raise his five children and taught them art. Her granddaughter has since become a professional artist. While raising the grandchildren, Mrs. Silberman still found time for community art classes and house construction, but the interior was never finished.

After the death of her husband in 1978, Silberman found Montgomery College and its community of art faculty and students. Over the course of nearly 25 years at the College, she took the same core art courses over and over again, adding up to more than 150 courses. She also became a resident artist, an arts resource and a mentor to the College’s students.

"I'm with creative people to begin with which is stimulating,” said Sarah Silberman, in an interview about her experiences at Montgomery College. “Being my age, I'm the grandmother to most of the kids. I never interfere with a teacher and sometimes, if I see something that I think will help the student, I wait until the teacher finally says it."

In 2004, the Montgomery College Alumni Association recognized Silberman with its Outstanding Alumni Award for her dedication to lifelong learning. Later that year, the College mounted a retrospective of Silberman’s work—the first-ever solo exhibit by a student at the College’s Rockville Campus. The exhibit inspired the College’s publication of “The Genius of Sarah Silberman: A Lifetime Student of Sculpture,” a book that explores her artistry. She received an honorary associate’s degree at the College’s commencement ceremony in 2006.

In early 2008, Montgomery College dedicated its Rockville Campus art gallery in honor of Mrs. Silberman, who generously donated money for its complete renovation. The gallery is now named the Sarah Silberman Art Gallery. In addition, she funded two endowed scholarships in ceramics and sculpture at Montgomery College, which allow promising students to receive financial assistance with their studies.

Survivors include sons David J. Silberman of Callao, Va., and William C. Silberman of Leesburg, Va.; grandchildren Laura Shepherd, Lisa Schindler, Geoffrey Silberman, Rebecca Kelly, Mark Silberman, and Michael Silberman; many nieces and nephews, including Wilbur Friedman, a special nephew; and 12 great grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial contributions be made to the Montgomery College Foundation to support the Sarah Silberman Endowed Scholarships in ceramics and sculpture. Send contributions to: Montgomery College Foundation, 900 Hungerford Drive, Suite 200, Rockville, MD 20850 and note the Sarah Silberman Endowed Scholarships on the check.