Art World Mourns Perry Acker

Perry Acker, a popular painter of the Northwest landscape, and a much-loved teacher of watercolor painting, died Dec. 30 in Overlake Hospital. He was 86. Acker succumbed to congestive heart failure following bypass surgery.

He was born April 6, 1903, in Oak Rapids, Mich. In 1907, Acker's family moved to Centralia, where he lived until 1928, when he moved to Aberdeen. He came to Seattle in 1945, and for 15 years owned and managed the American Printing and Lithographic Co.

Acker did not turn seriously to art until he was 47. His skill with watercolors made his paintings much in demand. His work was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Academy Galleries, both in New York, at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco, and the Seattle Art Museum and the Frye Art Museum. The latter two museums include Acker's work in their permanent collections, as does the First National Art Collection in Portland, and the Craftsman Press Collection, in Seattle.

Acker taught at the Burnley School of Professional Art, the Community Development Program at the University of Washington, and the Mendocino Art Center Summer Programs. He was a member of the American Watercolor Society, the West Coast Watercolor Society, the Northwest Watercolor Society, and the Puget Sound Group of Northwest Painters.

``Because he started late as an artist, he worked and studied very hard to learn. It made him a particularly fine teacher,'' said

Jess Cauthorn, who headed Burnley School. ``He won many awards, and got into some prestigious shows. The painting tours he led to Mexico, Japan, Guatemala and Europe were so popular they were legendary.''

Acker is survived by his wife, Peggy, of Renton, and by three daughters, Mary Lee Martin of Bellevue, Carolyn Small of Gig Harbor, and Nancy Acker of Minneapolis, and by six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, 4228 128th St., Bellevue. The family requests that remembrances be sent to the Perry Acker Scholarship Fund, administered by the Puget Sound Group of Northwest Painters, in care of Mike Duppenthaler, 1100 Olive Way, Suite 1150, Seattle, WA 98101-1839, or to the Christian Children's Fund, Inc., P.O. Box 265111, Richmond, VA 23261.