Tulia A. Callanan passed away peacefully in her sleep on August 30, 2022. She lived almost 93 years and was pleased to have done and seen so much. She was preceded in death by her parents, Emilia (Pasini) and Silvino Benini, her husband, Michael J. Callanan, Jr, and her grandson Joseph. Tulia is survived by her daughters, Karen, Valerie, Deidre and Andrea; her sons in law Lamar and Ken, and her grandsons Michael, Nicholas and Alexander. She loved and was proud of all of them.
Tulia was born November 14th, 1929 in Hyasota, Conemaugh Township, Pennsylvania. She left western Pennsylvania as a young adult to work for the U.S. government in Washington DC. There, she met her husband Michael. They had four daughters and lived and travelled extensively in the United States and many other countries, as an Air Force family and, later as civilians. Tulia continued to regularly travel after Michael’s death, taking twenty trips with Elderhostel/Road Scholar and many, many other family and group trips. She loved travel and said that it was through travel that she learned to appreciate the art of many cultures. She especially loved art related trips.
Art, in all its forms, was Tulia’s passion. She was an accomplished painter and sculptor and frequently showed her work and won awards in local and regional art exhibits. She was a part owner of the Mead Street Gallery in Wichita, Kansas for fifteen years. Tulia was particularly proud of the Gallery’s work supporting other artists, sponsoring competitive exhibits, providing a public venue for artists’ works and promoting rotating exhibits. Her goal was to make art something anyone who enjoyed it could participate in by creating and sharing art or by owning and enjoying the art created by others. She energetically supported the local art scene, managing contacts with artists and working to gain public media coverage of Old Town Wichita and regional artists. Tulia was an active member of the Kansas Academy of Oil Painters, Kansas Art Guild, Wichita Women Artists and the Kansas Sculptors Guild.
Tulia enjoyed family, good food, good company, books, movies, card games and puzzles. She created great meals and celebrations. She enjoyed life and will be greatly missed. We who remain are fortunate that she left us with many memories.
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