Meet the Artists
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2011 Artists
2010 Artists • Harlan W. Butt Harlan W. Butt is a metalsmith from Denton, Texas. Harlan's unique enamel and silver vessels are inspired by a love of nature and poetry. He is a Regents Professor of Art at the University of North Texas where he has taught since 1976. He is past President of the Enamelist Society and a Fellow of the American Crafts Council. His work has been exhibited in Australia, Canada, England, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and throughout the United States. He has spent time studying in Japan, including a year working in the studio of master metalsmith Shumei Tanaka and at the Biso Cloisonne Company, both in Kyoto. More information: www.harlanbutt.com
Richard Fruth is a sculptor from Cincinnati, Ohio. Richard's sculptures have a whimsical, humor-based aesthestic and are often made out of wood, bronze and paint. Richard received a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Photography in 1994 and a Master of Arts in Studio Arts in 1998 at Ball State University, Muncie, IN. Thereafter, he pursued a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture in 2001 at University of Cincinnati. His artwork focuses on two points of interest; the narrative, such as telling stories relating of the past, future, biological or psychological. His second point of interest, focuses on the use or abuse of the English language, specifically how language becomes repetitive, negative and sometimes humorous. He is currently represented by Sandra Small Gallery in Covington, Kentucky as well as working exhibitions for the upcoming 2010 – 2011 season.
Kirsten Furlong is a mixed media artist often working in drawings, paintings, prints, and installations. Her work documents her experience of the intersection of nature and the ideologies that frame our cultural understanding of the natural world. She examines the relationships people have with wild and domestic animals and see her art as a diagram of these narratives. Kirsten is currently the gallery director of the Visual Arts Center at Boise State University. She is also an art department faculty member at Boise State teaching a variety of studio arts. More information: www.kirstenfurlong.com
Nancy Lord, Alaska’s current Writer Laureate (2008-10), holds a liberal arts degree from Hampshire College and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Vermont College. In addition to being an independent writer based in Homer, she fished commercially for many years and has, more recently, worked as a naturalist and historian on adventure cruise ships. She is the author of three short fiction collections (most recently The Man Who Swam with Beavers, Coffee House Press, 2001) and four books of literary nonfiction (most recently Rock, Water, Wild: An Alaskan Life, University of Nebraska Press, 2009.) She teaches part-time at the Kachemak Bay Branch of Kenai Peninsula College and in the low-residency graduate writing program at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Her awards include fellowships from the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the Rasmuson Foundation, a Pushcart Prize, and residencies at a number of artist communities. 2009 Bill Brody is an artist and printmaker who obtains inspiration for his work from the wilderness landscapes that he has been able to explore over the years. The sketches, journals, and photographs he makes during his explorations are source materials for paintings, prints, and very large-scale works on forged and carved copper and bronze. He is a professor emeritus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Art Department, and he is known for his innovative work on the Body Language User Interface (BLUI) project at the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center at UAF. More information: www.billbrodyartist.com • Karin Franzen The work of fiber artist Karin Franzen is widely known and she has been in several important international and national exhibitions, including “Quilt Visions 2008: Contemporary Expressions", "“Quilts of the Pacific Rim”, and “Made in Alaska”. Her work revolves around one of her favorite subjects, the birds of Alaska. Franzen uses the skills honed over a lifetime: drawing, mathematics, structural design, sewing, an understanding of biology, and business acumen to create her work. More information: www.karinfranzen.com • John Morgan John Morgan was invited to be Denali’s first Writer-in-Residence, which expands the Artist-in-Residence program at Denali to include non-visual media. He moved with his family to Fairbanks in 1976, where he teaches in the graduate Creative Writing program at the University of Alaska. He has published three books of poetry, and his work has appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, The American Poetry Review, The Paris Review, The New Republic, and in many other magazines and anthologies. More information: www.johnmorganpoet.com • Gail Niebrugge Long time Alaska painter Gail Niebrugge is known throughout the world for her use of pointillism, small-dot like strokes, in her work. A five time winner in the National Diabetes Association’s Holiday Art Search, Niebrugge’s artwork has appeared on hundreds of thousands of Christmas cards sold nationwide to benefit diabetes research. She has completed seven major public commissions in Alaska, including a ten panel multi-dimensional artwork for the U.S. Customs in Skagway. She was the first artist-in-residence for Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and is the author of “Gail Niebrugge’s Alaska Wildflowers”, a book about her thirty-three years of work focused entirely on Alaska. More information: www.niebruggestudio.com 2008 Sukey Bryan uses her oil paintings to explore the interaction and transformation of natural elements and cycles propelled by tidal, climatic, volcanic, and tectonic forces. She has a particular interest in the taiga, and tundra ecosystems, the flow of water across the varied terrain, and the climatic cycles of the land and flora. More information: www.sukeybryan.com • Melanie Mowinski Melanie Mowinski is a paper and book artist who explores patterns in time and nature through documentation and collaborations. More information: www.melaniemowinski.com • Ron Senungetuk Ron Senungetuk, a sculptor and silversmith whose work has been widely exhibited nationally and internationally, was invited to participate in the program by the National Park Service. He works primarily in wood and metal and is known for his abstractions of animal figures. Senungetuk was born in the village of Wales on the Seward Peninsula, and has spent most of his life in Alaska. A Fullbright scholar, he has received many distinguished honors and awards, including the Governor’s Award from the Alaska State Council on the Arts. More information: www.wellstreetart.com (artist page) • Sara Tabbert Sara Tabbert is a printmaker who has expanded the range of materials she works with to include carved wood, plastic, glass and mosaic tile. Her artwork comes out of her interest in the endless variety of the natural world. She has a long standing love for Denali, which she explored during her summers as a seasonal employee. More information: www.saratabbert.com 2007 Janice Kasper is a painter who uses oil paints to provide poignant and whimsical portraits of wildlife and their environments. Her work reflects her passion for habitat conservation, but she also strives to provide fun and introspective images for her viewers. More information: www.caldbeck.com (artist page) • Sheila King Sheila King has been making baskets for over thirty years, and has taught basketry for twenty years. She draws inspiration for her intricate baskets from natural shapes and colors. • David King David King is a wildlife and natural landscape artist who works with watercolors. Retirement from a dental practice now affords him the time to explore areas and paint scenery and wildlife throughout the summer months. • Margo Klass Margo Klass is a student of aesthetic space who creatively uses light to produce sculptural boxes. She studied Northern Renaissance artists for their use of spaces receding into the distance, and she has been influenced by the interior spaces and exterior landscapes of Japanese temples. More information: www.margoklass.com 2006 Eric Meyer is a wildlife artist who works with oils. He has painted mostly fall landscapes on his previous trips to Denali, and is looking forward to expanding his work to include the lush, green landscapes of summer. • Ree Nancarrow Ree Nancarrow is a quilt artist who has lived in the Denali Park area for over forty years. She chose quilting as her medium of choice in the early 1990’s because it provided an enormous variety of scale, color and texture. She dyes or paints most of her fabrics, but also stamps, stencils, silk-screens and elaborately quilts them. • Anna Marie Pavlik Anna Marie Pavlik creates prints by using foam plates that have been indented with pens, pointed tools or textured objects. She uses her commitment to print making to encourage others to let nature be a presence in their lives. • Sandy Stolle Sandy Stolle is a wood sculptor who lived in the bush of the Northwest Alaska for twelve years before relocating to the rainforest, mountains and waters of Seward a decade and a half ago. She gains inspiration from the power and beauty of Alaskan environments. More information: www.sandystolle.com 2005 Linda Beach is a quilter who draws inspiration for her fabric works of art from her love of nature and the Alaskan landscape. Her quilts are in numerous private and public collections across the country, and have been the recipients of several awards. More information: www.lindabeachartquilts.com • Kevin Muente Kevin Muente is a landscape painter who saw a change in his spirit and his artwork when he first experienced the powerful landscapes and large spaces of the western United States. He feels that coming to Denali is the next step in his development as an artist and seeks to share the sense of awe he has felt in these places with others through his work. He is currently the Assistant Professor of Painting at Northern Kentucky University. More information: www.nku.edu/~muentek • Rod Weagant Weagant is a plein air, or “on location” landscape painter, who has spent the last 25 years trying to communicate the wonder and emotions he feels when surrounded by the natural world. He travels the Yukon, Alaska and the western United States painting and conducting workshops. He has had over 30 one-man exhibitions and has participated in numerous group shows. More information: www.weagantartgallery.com 2004 Diane Canfield Bywaters is a landscape painter with over 26 years of experience of “on location” painting. She is currently a Professor of Art at the University of Wisconsin. She has traveled extensively in the United States and abroad to paint dramatic landscapes to raise the environmental awareness of the viewer. She has been an artist-in-residence at several national parks, including Rocky Mountain, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Acadia, Hawaii Volcanoes, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Isle Royale, Glacier and Voyageurs. More information: www.uwsp.edu/art-design/dbywater • Patricia Savage Patricia Savage is a painter who is passionate about wild places and the species that inhabit them. She bridges the gap between science and fine art by portraying accurate biological relationships in her compositions. She has visited Alaska twice previously, and on one of the trips was the natural history artist for a four-week coastal cruise retracing the 1899 Harriman Expedition. More information: www.natureartists.com (artist page) • Jon Van Zyle and Jona Van Zyle The Van Zyles will come as a team, each bringing a variety of experience to this program. Jon has spent over 30 years in Alaska, and is well known for his paintings, prints and posters depicting the state’s beauty. He completed the Iditarod twice and in 1979 was made the official Iditarod artist, a title he still holds today. Besides creating the annual Iditarod poster, he produces numerous paintings each year for one man exhibitions in the United States and Europe. Jona’s interests include ceramics, metal casting and graphic design. She honed her sewing skills working as a sailmaker and currently works with leather and beads to combine traditional clothing ideas with a humorous Alaskan twist. She has designed logos for the Fur Rendezvous and the Jr. Iditarod Race. She has over 20 years of experience working with huskies, and has written and illustrated many articles about dog history and training for a variety of publications. More information: www.jonvanzyle.com 2003 Rachelle Dowdy, a sculptor, is currently the Artist in Residence with the Artist in the Schools Program in Fairbanks, working with students from elementary age through high school. She gets ideas through her experiences and observations, and sees her work as a reflection of human relationships to Alaska’s landscape. She has had solo exhibitions in Fairbanks, Anchorage and Homer. More information: www.wellstreetart.com (artist page) • David Mollett David Mollett is well-known for his brightly-colored paintings of the dramatic scenery of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and areas in and around Denali National Park. He owns the Well Street Art Company, a contemporary art gallery in Fairbanks and was the 2002 guest curator at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. He has had solo shows throughout Alaska and his work is included in all of the state’s public art collections. More information: www.wellstreetart.com (artist page) • Rebecca Voris Rebecca Voris is a weaver who draws with yarn and paints with dye directly on the loom while composing an image. Her work has been exhibited in Anchorage and Fairbanks and is in the collections of the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. 2002 A renowned Alaskan painter, Woodward was recruited to assist the park in establishing a permanent Artist-In-Residence program. In 1982, he was an artist-in-residence at the Anchorage Historical and Fine Arts Museum. Professor Woodward’s paintings have been exhibited in numerous galleries and collections. He was appointed to the Alaska State Council on the Arts by Governor Knowles in 1997 and has served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Western States Arts Federation since 2000. More information: www.keslerwoodward.com |
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