Biography
A native of Idaho, Aupperle was educated in California from middle school on, but spent summers on her beloved family ranch in eastern Idaho. Between her sophomore and junior years at Long Beach Poly High School, she became the youngest individual accepted for studies at Chouinard School of Art. Following a Bachelor of Education from UCLA, she returned to teach art, stagecraft, and costume design at Long Beach Poly for nearly a decade. Just prior to WWII, Aupperle studies at the Royal Academy of Art in Copenhagen and in Stockholm.
She returned to her hometown of Idaho Falls in 1940 to marry Don Aupperle. The couple taught art and music, respectively, at Idaho Falls High School for nearly three decades, collaborating on many musical theater productions. Aupperle received her Master’s Degree in drawing and painting from Claremont Graduate School in 1961.
Aupperle was instrumental in starting the Idaho Falls art guild and was a charter member of the Idaho Art Association. A teacher and mentor who nurtured many individuals toward successful careers in art, she was honored with the White House and National Gallery of Art award in 1966, as one of America’s twenty-five outstanding educators. One woman shows through the West often highlighted her paintings of Native Americans.