Joan C. Gratz

Joan Carol Gratz (born 1941) is an American artist, animator, and filmmaker who specializes in clay painting. Gratz is best known for her 1992 Oscar-winning animated short film Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase.

Early life and education In 1941, Gratz was born in Burbank, California. while Gratz was a student in architecture, she began painting. Gratz was filming her painting process. In 1969, She obtained a degree in professional architecture at the University of California, Los Angeles. During her time at Vinton Studios, Gratz worked on many films as an animator, but in 1987 she decided to work as a freelance animator and filmmaker due to issues involved with collaborative film projects, and not receiving the proper credit for her work.

Once a freelance animator and filmmaker, Gratz continued to be represented by Vinton Studio, In 1990, Gratz animated a commercial for United Airlines entitled Natural, which consisted of her clay painting technique.

After eight years of planning and researching, and two years of working through the creation and animation process, Gratz completed her film Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase in 1992. The title of this seven minute long film combines the titles of Leonardo DaVinci's famous painting, the Mona Lisa (1503), and Marcel Duchamp's iconic modernist piece, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 (1919). beginning with Impressionism, and continuing until the Pop Art movement and Hyperrealism

Joan C. Gratz is featured as one of six interviewees in Martin Cooper's feature documentary History, Mystery & Odyssey: The Lives and Work of Six Portland Animators (2023). The other interviewees are Joanna Priestley, Chel White, Jim Blashfield, Rose Bond and Zak Margolis. The film premiered at the 2023 Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Accolades At the Academy Awards, Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase (1992) won an Oscar for the Best Animated Short Film in 1993. 1992 Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase - Director 1993 Pro and Con Co-director with Joanna Priestley 2010 Kubla Kan 2014 Lost and Found 2016 Primal Flux - Director 2020 No Leaders Please - Director

As animator Rip Van Winkle (1978) Legacy: A Very Short History of Natural Resources (1979) The Little Prince (1979) Dinosaur (1980) A Christmas Gift (1980) The Creation (1981) Candyjam (1988) Kubla Kan (2010) Lost and Found (2014) No Leaders Please (2020)

Commercials Microsoft Windows 95 (1995)