Sharon Koskoff ’74 working on a mural It’s no exaggeration to say that Sharon Koskoff ’74 lives for art. As a teenager, she was painting murals on the walls of her home and those of her siblings. Today, she is a noted expert on both murals and Art Deco—that symmetrical, streamlined style reflective of the modern machine age that flourished in the 1920s through the 1940s. She has written and curated two books, Art Deco of the Palm Beaches (Arcadia, 2007), chronicling the unique style of architecture of south Florida called Streamline Moderne, and the recent Murals of the Palm Beaches (Arcadia 2019), the latter of which won a 2019 silver medal award from the Florida Authors & Publishers Association. Koskoff enrolled in Brooklyn College in 1970 on her 16th birthday. She majored in fine arts with honors in sculpture and photography. She cites professors Barney Cole and Ron Mehlman as key influences. “At Brooklyn College, creativity and art was inspiring and all-engaging.” She went on to earn her master’s degree in color theory at the New York School of Interior Design in 1977, and a degree in printmaking at the School of Visual Arts in 1982. As a muralist, Koskoff has worked with communities across Palm Beach County over the years to bring the art to interiors and exteriors of schools and public buildings. She remains committed to advancing the cause of preserving Art Deco survivals. “I aim to educate the public about the significance of saving these notable structures from the wrecking ball,” she says.
