NITA K. SUNDERLAND, AGE 92
November 9, 1927 – July 17, 2020
Nita K. Sunderland, 92, American sculptor, died July 17, 2020 at Generations at Riverview in East Peoria.
Nita was born November 9, 1927, in Newton, Illinois, to parents Sarah (Taylor) Sunderland and Glenn H.
Sunderland. She grew up in Newton, and continued her education in Norton, Mass, where she graduated from
House in the Pines junior college in 1947. There she developed impressive equestrian skills and became captain
of the school’s Riding Club. She briefly taught physical education at Lancaster Country Day School in
Lancaster, PA, before resuming her education. She studied art at Duke University before transferring to Bradley
University, where she received her BFA in 1952. Nita taught art at the University of Michoacán, Mexico, from
1953 to 1954. She received her Masters degree in ceramics from Bradley University in 1955 and joined the
Bradley faculty a year later. As one of the first woman college sculpture instructors in the United States, Nita
was constantly breaking the glass ceiling throughout her career. She taught sculpture, drawing, and 3-D design
at Bradley until she retired as a Professor Emeritus in 1988.
Nita is known for her mostly large-scale works of sculpture carved from Indiana limestone or cast in bronze.
Her artwork often expressed themes of masked emotions as well as historical and contemporary restrictions on
women’s freedom and equality. Many of her works are in private collections in the Peoria and Chicago areas,
and many grace public spaces such as the Peoria Civic Center, Peoria Methodist Medical Center, Illinois State
University, Peoria Riverview Museum, Bradley University, and former Chicago locations including the Federal
Plaza and Millennium Park.
Nita’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has been featured in local exhibitions
including Lakeview Museum in 1964 and 1995 as well as a retrospective at Riverview Museum in 2016.
In 1986 Nita formed a sculpture restoration business with family and colleagues and performed invaluable
restoration work on many public monuments in central Illinois and Indiana, including the Civil War Memorial
in downtown Peoria. Nita also devoted many volunteer hours helping to restore grave markers at Peoria’s
historic Springdale Cemetery, and she served on the board of Tri-County Women Strength in Peoria (now the
Center for Prevention of Abuse) from 1989 to 1995.
Nita will be remembered for her passionate devotion to her art, her dedication to her students, her service to her
community, her love of family, and her compassion for all living creatures, especially the many Airedale dogs
she rescued as pets through the years.
Nita is survived by her dearest friend and longtime colleague Beth Linn, her nephews John Sunderland (Libby
Hillis) of Mazama, Washington, and Bill Sunderland (Krista) of Champaign, Illinois, as well as great-nieces
Gloria Sunderland and Sara Sunderland of Champaign. She was preceded in death by her parents and her
brother, Glenn W. Sunderland.
A memorial service for Nita will be announced at a future date. Burial will be in the Riverside Cemetery in
Newton, Illinois. Local arrangements are under the care of the Meyer Funeral Home in Newton, Illinois. The
obituary can be viewed and condolences left at www.meyerfh.com.
In lieu of flowers, charitable contributions may be made to Bradley University Department of Art, to the Center
for Prevention of Abuse, and Susan G. Komen.
