Diane Arenberg

Diane Louise Arenberg passed away on August 18, 2026, surrounded by her family.

Diane was preceded in death by her parents, William Kramer Jr. and Joanne Kramer, and her parents-in-law, Jean and Julius Theodore Arenberg, Jr. “Ted”. She is survived by her husband, Thomas Arenberg, with whom she shared 57 years; her daughters, Elizabeth Arenberg (Nick Metcalf), Molly Dunn (Katie), and Sally Arenberg (Alex Casella); and her beloved grandchildren, Dash, Maisie, Hue, Ramona, and Josephine.

She is also survived by her sister, Barbara Spielman; her brother, Richard Kramer; and Tom’s siblings, Bo Young (Bill Foote), Mary Arenberg (George Schroeder), Doug Arenberg (Karen Chapel), Michael Arenberg, and Jim Arenberg (Kim), as well as ten nieces and nephews and six grandnieces and grandnephews.

Diane was born and raised in the Chicago area and attended Glenbard West High School, where she met Tom. What began as a high school romance became a 57-year partnership filled with family, adventure, creativity, and, as Diane might have put it, a lifelong commitment to keeping Tom under control. Just a few months before her passing, Diane and Tom celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary—a milestone that meant so much to them and to the family they built together.

After high school, Diane began college at the University of Illinois as an art major before transferring to Purdue University, where she earned her degree in interior design in 1976. Over the course of her life, she followed more than one calling, working as a commercial interior designer, chemical dependency counselor, and art gallery owner before ultimately devoting herself full-time to the passion that had been there from the beginning: art.

An accomplished and prolific multidisciplinary artist, Diane worked in oil, watercolor, pastel, monotype, encaustic, printmaking, metalsmithing, and jewelry. Her work was exhibited in solo, group, invitational, and nationally juried exhibitions throughout the country, and her art can be found in private homes and collections around the world.

Diane’s artistic life was marked by constant exploration and recognition. In 2013, Purdue University School of Liberal Arts honored her with its Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2020, she received an award for her work at the Santa Fe Plein Air Fiesta. That same year, her oil painting Sunset Sunburst received a Purchase Award during American Women Artists’ national juried exhibition, Making Their Mark, becoming part of the permanent collection of the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia.

Her recognition continued throughout the following years, with honors from MasterWorks of New Mexico, the Pastel Society of New Mexico, and Plein Air Painters of New Mexico. Most recently, in 2025, her pastel Along the Old Ranch Road received an Artist Member Honorable Mention at the Plein Air Painters of New Mexico National Juried Exhibition in Santa Fe.

Diane was also a natural leader, mentor, and community builder. Throughout her life, she devoted her time and considerable energy to causes and communities she cared deeply about. In 2012, she received the Children’s Hero Award from the Welfare Auxiliary of Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee in recognition of her philanthropic and volunteer work.

The place where Diane’s legacy is most profoundly felt is Ghost Ranch in Abiquiú, New Mexico—a special landscape she first visited in 1989 that captured her heart forever.

What began as a place to paint and learn became one of the great loves of her life. Over the decades that followed, Diane returned again and again—as an artist, student, instructor, volunteer, leader, and eventually as someone who would help shape the artistic community of the Ranch itself. She served on the Ghost Ranch Governing Board from 2007 to 2018 and as President of the National Ghost Ranch Foundation from 2009 to 2010. She also taught workshops at the Ranch in painting, pastels, silversmithing, and inlay.

In 2020, Diane co-founded Estudio Corazón, an artist-in-residence program at Ghost Ranch created to give artists, writers, and other creative people the time and space to immerse themselves in the extraordinary landscape and simply create.

As a coordinator of Estudio Corazón, Diane did far more than organize an artist residency. She created community. She welcomed people in, connected them with one another, mentored and encouraged them, and gave them permission to see themselves as artists. Diane believed deeply in the creative spirit and had a remarkable ability to recognize it in others. She encouraged the artist in everyone she met.

In the last year of her life, Diane continued building that community by creating Casa Mañana, a new studio and workshop space in Abiquiu, New Mexico. She had only just begun developing and coordinating workshops there—still imagining new ways for people to gather, learn, make things, and inspire one another.

Diane leaves behind an extraordinary legacy. She is survived not only by the family and friends who loved her, but by an extensive body of artwork that will continue to live in homes and collections around the world. She is survived by the artists she encouraged, the communities she built, and the opportunities she created for future generations of artists to find their own voices, make their own work, and experience the transformative power of creativity.

Her legacy lives especially at Ghost Ranch, in a place that captured her heart nearly four decades ago and that she, in turn, helped make more welcoming and inspiring for generations of artists to come.

Diane brought creativity, curiosity, humor, generosity, energy, and an unmistakable presence wherever she went. She didn’t simply make art; she made space for other people to discover their own creativity. She saw possibility in people and encouraged them to see it in themselves.

Her art remains. The communities she created remain. And the opportunities she made possible will continue to give artists the chance to create, connect, and discover something in themselves for generations to come. Some of her work can be seen on her website. Diane Arenberg Art

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Diane’s memory to the Estudio Corazón Scholarship Fund at Ghost Ranch, helping other artists experience the place and community that meant so much to her. Donations may be made at http://ghostranch.org/donate-one-time-gift/ Please specify the “Diane Arenberg Estudio Corazón Scholarship Fund.”

Diane’s celebration of life will take place October 3rd, 2026 at Ghost Ranch, NM. Please visit www.campdiane.memorial and her family will provide more details. We hope you join us at her favorite place to celebrate Diane.