March 20, 2018

George Tobolowsky

George Tobolowsky comes from a large family with immigrant roots. He recalls that his father's side, headed by his grandfather Ruth (Rube) Tobolowsky, left Poland in the 1880s, with Rube said to have been born in Sweden before the family came to the United States and settled in Dallas, sponsored by relatives already there. Both sets of grandparents worked in the millinery business making cowboy hats and women's hats. His mother, whom the family affectionately called Josephine, was a registered nurse and artist who trained at the Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, met his father during wartime, and later earned additional college degrees and worked as a substitute teacher in DISD.

Growing up in Dallas, George and his siblings were kept constantly busy to stay out of trouble. They collected stamps and coins, sold roses at grocery stores, and learned photography in a home darkroom. His father, an electrical engineer who had worked on radar for battleships and later ran a textile business, acquired land north of Dallas in 1962. The family celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Passover in the country, later hosting Thanksgivings of up to 150 relatives. George studied accounting at SMU, where he was president of the business school, and pursued law, including an LLM in taxation at NYU.

After roughly three decades in business, including Blockbuster Video and other franchises, George returned to art full-time in 2004 with the encouragement of his teacher and mentor, sculptor James Surls. A found-object sculptor who gathers metal from Dallas scrap yards, he creates sculptures, menorahs, and sustainable flower pieces, exhibiting in venues from India to the Venice Biennale and the Jerusalem Biennale. He serves on numerous nonprofit boards, has volunteered with major arts institutions, and once helped install a Louise Nevelson exhibition. He and his wife Julie raised their children, and he takes pride in his family's lasting good name and civic contributions.

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