“The artist should fear to become a slave of detail. He should strive to express his thought and not the surface of it. . . the artist has only to remain true to his dream and. . . must see naught but the vision beyond.” To describe the quest for that vision, Ryder chose an unconventional simile: “Have you ever seen an inch worm crawl up a leaf or twig, and there clinging to the very end, revolve in the air, feeling for something to reach? That’s like me. I am trying to find something out there beyond the place on which I have a footing.”

Albert Pinkham Ryder

Art, for me, does not provide answers but rather provokes questions and seeks possibilities. There is a degree of remembering, forgetting, and re-remembering that is paramount to the process of creating this work. I interweave a reflection of the past with observation of the present - family, gender roles, loss, hope, place, search for spirituality, and global consciousness.

This work addresses aspects of interior space; its physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual connotations. I am interested in the dialogue between the anonymity of the crowd and the alienation of the isolated individual. The process of constructing the work acknowledges memory as a significant ingredient in painting. It allows me to seek clarity of ideas while honoring mystery and ambiguity.

Wendell H. Arneson

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Born in Barneveld, Wisconsin

EDUCATION

Santa Fe Institute of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
Study with Gregory Amenoff
Santa Fe Institute of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
Study with Nathan Oliveria
MFA Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH
Art Education Certification, University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI
BA, Luther College, Decorah, IA

Currently Professor of Art
St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

GRANTS AND AWARDS

Research Travel Grant, Italy and British Isles, St. Olaf College
Research and Development Grant, Santa Fe, NM, St. Olaf College
Art in Embassies Program, Oslo, Norway
Research Grant, Italy and Ireland, St. Olaf College
Art in Embassies Program, Rwanda, Africa
Travel research Grant, France and British Isles, St. Olaf College
Major Painting Award, Watercolor USA, Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, MO
Drawing Award, Van Wert Museum of Art, Van Wert, OH
Major Drawing Award, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH

EXHIBITIONS (selected)

2005 Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter MN
Peace Prize Forum, St. Olaf College
Flaten Art Museum, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN
Groveland Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Northfield Arts Guild, Northfield, MN
National Oil Painting Exhibition, Wichita Art Center, Wichita, KN
2003 International Peace Price Forum, Concordia College
Moorhead, MN (group)
Genzel Gallery, Peninsula Art School, Fish Creek, WI
Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
Concordia College, Moorhead, MN
National Small Oil Painting Exhibition (group), Wichita Art Center, Wichita, KN
9/11 Remembered (group): Rochester Art Museum, Rochester, MN
Steensland Art Museum, St. Olaf College
Rochester Art Museum (group), Rochester, MN
Groveland Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
Lutheran Brotherhood, Minneapolis, MN
Edgewood Orchard Gallery, Fish Creek, WI
Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
Luther College, Decorah, IA
1997 Northfield Arts Guild Gallery, Northfield, MN
Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
Witter Gallery, Storm Lake, IA
Lands End Corporate Headquarters, Dodgeville, WI
Edgewood Orchard Gallery, Fish Creek, WI
Arts on Grand, Spencer, IA
Edgewood Orchard Gallery, Fish Creek, WI
Bridge Square Gallery, Northfield, WI
1992 Luther-Northwestern Seminary, St. Paul, MN
Waseca Art Center, Waseca, MN
Minnesota Landscape Invitational, Minneapolis, MN
Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
Steensland Art Museum, St. Olaf College
Kohn Gallery, St. Paul, MN
Edgewood Orchard Gallery, Fish Creek, WI
Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
Edgewood Orchard Gallery, Fish Creek, WI
Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
Steensland Art Museum, Northfield, MN
St. Norbert College, DePere, WI
Kohn Gallery, St. Paul, MN
Seuferer-Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
Edgewood Orchard Gallery, Fish Creek, WI
Kohn Gallery, St. Paul, MN.
Kohn Gallery, St. Paul, MN
Rockford College, Rockford, IL
Luther College, Decorah, IA
Owatonna Art Center, Owatonna, MN
Seuferer-Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH
Seuferer-Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
Edgewood Orchard Gallery, Fish Creek, WI
Northfield Art Guild Gallery, Northfield, MN
Allen Rubiner Gallery, Royal Oak, MI

CORPORATE AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS (selected)

Ford Motor Corporation 3M Corporation
First Bank Corporation General Motors Corporation
Prudential Life Insurance Co. Wisconsin TB Inc.
University of Wisconsin Clinical Science Center
Employers Insurance of Wausau Leonard, Street, and Deinard
Excello Corporation Nicolet Instrument Corporation
Northfield Public Library Miller Art Center
Luther College St. Olaf College
Princeton University United Bank Corporation
Steensland Art Museum Murphy, Stoker, and Brewster
Heritage Insurance Concordia College
Hillstrom Museum of Art

REPRESENTED BY:
Grace Chosy Gallery, Madison, WI
Groveland Gallery, Minneapolis, MN