Birutė Žilytė-Steponavičienė

Žilytė-Steponavičienė was born in Nainiškiai, Panevėžys District on 2 June 1930. In 1956 she graduated from State Institute of Art (now Vilnius Academy of Arts). From 1963 to 1987 she taught at the Čiurlionis School of Art. She was married to Algirdas Steponavičius, painter, graphic artist, book illustrator and writer. Žilytė-Steponavičienė died on 3 November 2024, at the age of 94.

In 2015 the murals in Valkininkai children's sanatorium "Pušelė" ("Little Pine Tree"), created together with her husband during 1969–1972, were included into the Lithuanian Registry of Cultural Values. On the occasion, the head of the regional Cultural Heritage department Margarita Janušonienė noticed that it is an important example of the cooperation of a duo of complementary artists and the consolidation of creative freedom against Soviet censorship and the regulation of art in public spaces. The murals, based on the motifs of Lithuanian folklore, are described as "one of the most remarkable works of Lithuanian modernist art of the second half of the 20th century". The original work is in a vandalized and neglected state. A digitally restored copy, based on photographs made in 2016-2018 was prepared by the Vilnius Gallery project, with the assistance of the artist. The reconstructed copy was printed on aluminium composite sheets, for exhibitions. The mural paintings constitute 12 compositions of total area of about 110 m².