Known for his abstract and precisionist paintings and mosaic murals, Edmund Lewandowski was born in Milwaukee in 1914 and attended the Layton School of Art from 1931 to 1934. Following graduation, he assumed a teaching position in public school as a means of support though he pursued painting on his own and commercial commissions in advertising and with magazines.  

In 1936, Edith Halpert, an important New York art dealer of modern art, invited him to join her gallery, the noted Downtown Gallery. That year, he also began painting murals for the Federal Art Project, and during 1939 and 1940, he executed post office murals in Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconsin. From 1942 to 1946, Lewandowski made maps and concealments while serving in the United States Air Force. In 1947, he went back to the Layton School of Art where he was appointed to the faculty, but he also continued to do commercial work. In 1949, he moved to Florida State University, in Tallahassee, where he remained until 1954. Following his tenure in Florida, he returned to the Layton School of Art, where he served as Director until 1972. His final position was as chairman of the art department at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where he served from 1973 to 1984 before he retired and was named professor emeritus. He died in Rock Hill in 1998.