Vilma Isabel Gonzalez Cordova Holland (November 5, 1928 - January 26, 2005) was a Puerto Rican visual artist. Early years Holland (birth name: Vilma Isabel Gonzalez Cordova) was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico. She was the fourth youngest of ten children in the large Gonzalez Cordova family. Her father, Jose, was a merchant while her mother, Rosa Candida, stayed at home raising the children. The first floor of their large, two-story concrete home was the family business and the second floor was the living quarters. Jose sold groceries and provisions downstairs while his wife reared the children upstairs in their seven-bedroom home. Holland's artistic talents were discovered very early in life. A favorite family story is that as a child Holland was asked by a teacher to draw pictures of two famous Spanish poets. Upon completion, the teacher refused to believe that Holland had done the pen and ink portraits without using graph paper or tracing. Accused of lying, she was sent home. Señora Gonzalez Cordova returned to the school with Holland and they documented her exceptional talent. Education Holland attended high school in her hometown of Caguas. Her teacher, Victor Torres Lizardi, a painter from Caguas, taught her pen and ink along with watercolors. After some spirited family discussions, Holland followed her artistic interests majoring in art at Nazareth Junior College in Bardstown, Kentucky (currently Spalding University). She received her diploma on June 3, 1948. Upon graduation, Holland returned home and enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico, UPR. One of her art teachers was Professor Guillermo Sureda. He took an interest in her and continued her education with watercolors. Sureda was from Spain and his wife, like Holland, was from Puerto Rico. Professor Fran Cervoni, another art teacher, taught design to her. Professor Cristobol Ruiz introduced Holland to oils. Holland graduated with a bachelor's degree in art on May 27, 1949. The UPR recognized her design abilities and Cervoni helped Holland obtain a fellowship to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City where she studied under various artists, including Arnold Burchess. Holland received an Associate in Applied Science from FIT on June 11, 1964. During this time she divorced her first husband, Emigdio Buonomo. After college, Holland taught art at the University of Puerto Rico. She also worked in the corporate world where she specialized in corporate identity and product design. At this time, she and