Constance Ortmayer

Who was Constance Ortmayer?

Constance Ortmayer was an American artist well known for designing the 1936 Cincinnati Music Center commemorative half dollar. Ortmayer was inspired to become an artist by her father, Rudolph Ortmayer, who worked as a lithographer. In 1926, Ortmayer began studying under Austrian born sculptor Franz Plunder. She graduated from the Royal Academy in Vienna, Austria and studied Master School of the Royal Academy. Upon returning to the United States in 1932, Ortmayer found difficulty gaining employment. With the assistance of her friend, a tutor of Treasury secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Ortmayer became employed with the Section of Painting and Sculpture, coordinating design contests for federal buildings. In 1937, she ended her employment with the Section. Soon after, she was recruited as a sculpture instructor at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida by the current president, Hamilton Holt. Ortmayer was awarded commissions to design and create two bas reliefs for post offices in Arcadia, Florida and Scottsboro, Alabama as a result of her entering a national design competition. The Arcadia relief, completed in 1939, is titled Arcadia.