Constance Whitehead Kiermaier, accomplished artist, extraordinary teacher and loving mother, died July 14, 2026 in Rockland, Maine. She was 99 years old and had lived at the Bartlett Woods Retirement Community in Rockland since 2016. Prior to that, Constance was a longtime resident of Westport, Connecticut.
Throughout her long life, Constance was profoundly dedicated to her career as an artist and teacher of art. She worked in multiple styles and mediums including painting, collage, printmaking and three-dimensional constructions. Constance worked with oils, acrylics, wood and various materials and found objects which lent themselves to whatever piece she was working on.
Constance attended the Yale School of Fine Arts from which she graduated in 1947. After graduation, Constance worked as a free-lance commercial artist and gradually developed her career as a prolific and eclectic artist. Most notably, In addition to her artistic accomplishments she was a beloved teacher to many aspiring artists. Constance was able to detect and encourage the unique creativity inherent in each of her students, still mentoring many of them up until her death.
In 2010, Constance reflected on her love for art with the following statement:
Now that I am in the middle of my eighth decade, I still continue to think of art as magic, and myself as a kind of magician who through complex trickery can manipulate visual perceptions and create a dichotomy of the real and the unreal. In my lifelong exploration of this magic, as a painter and maker of boxes, collages and constructions, I find that I delight and surprise myself in the process of seeking to delight and surprise. This discovery is the ultimate enchantment.
In New England, some of the places where Constance had been represented include the Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury CT; Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI; Silvermine Guild Arts Center, New Canaan, CT; The Mills Gallery, Boston, MA; and Yale University, New Haven, CT. In New York City, she had four solo exhibits at SOHO20, and has been included in group exhibitions at G.W. Einstein, the Genesis Gallery and the National Academy of Fine Arts. In Maine, where she spent her summers for many years, she exhibited at the Maine Center for Contemporary Art, Rockport; Between the Muse, Rockland; The Drawing Room, St. George; and the Portland Museum Biennial.
Constance was the recipient of many awards including the Faber Birren Award for Distinctive and Creative Expression with Color, and in 1993, she received a fellowship grant from the New England Foundation on the Arts/National Endowment for the Arts. In 2003 she was awarded a grant from the Weir Farm Foundation.
Constance was born in Baltimore, Maryland to Walter D. Whitehead and Lillian S. Whitehead on June 18, 1927. She married John W. Kiermaier in 1949 and lived in Westport, Connecticut while raising her four children; Lock, Faith, Lucy and Johanna. Constance infused her love for family and friends into all aspects of her life and creative pursuits.
Constance’s husband John W. Kiermaier passed away in 2009. Constance is survived by her son Lock of Augusta, Maine, and daughters Faith Feder of New York City, Lucy Kiermaier Michaud of Newington, Connecticut and Johanna Lindsay of Tenants Harbor, Maine and by grandchildren Ethan, Katelyn and Zebulon. Contributions in her memory can be made to Cushing Academy (online at cushing.org/give) or Doctors Without Borders (online at give.doctorswithoutborders.org). A memorial service for Constance will be held at Bartlett Woods Retirement Community in Rockland, Maine on Sunday, August 16th from 3 to 5 o’clock in the afternoon.