The Jewish Encyclopedia
of Western Pennsylvania
A project of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
Sam Tilden Stern was a New York-based artist who relocated to Pittsburgh in late 1932 or early 1933 to become art director for Warner Theaters in this area.
While working in Pittsburgh, he produced at least two major murals for the theater chain locally. The first was a series of four 20-foot-tall panels installed in the lobby of the Warner Theater on Fifth Avenue downtown in early 1933. The second was a 30-foot by 12-foot mural in the Enright Theater in East Liberty in 1935 titled “America Triumphant.” It memorialized Thomas Francis Enright—a young man from Bloomfield who had been among the first American soldiers killed during World War I.
In addition to these major commissions, Stern also participated in several solo and group exhibitions during his time in Pittsburgh, including the Butter and Eggs Barter Art Show of 1933, as well as exhibits at the Wunderly Gallery in downtown Pittsburgh.
Following a long hospitalization in Pittsburgh, Stern returned to New York in late 1936 but quickly relocated to the West Coast to become an associate art director for Universal Studios. He soon returned to New York again, this time to open his own commercial studio. His health continued to remain a problem, and he died in the mid-1940s.