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Walter Piehl: Sweetheart of the Rodeo Public Screening

Presented by Minot State University at Ann Nicole Nelson Hall

October 11, 2011

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MSU TO HOST PUBLIC SCREENING OF PIEHL DOCUMENTARY

Minot State University, in conjunction with Prairie Public Broadcasting and the North Dakota Council on the Arts is presenting the public documentary screening of “Walter Piehl: Sweetheart of the Rodeo.” The event is being held Tuesday (Oct. 11) at 7:30 p.m. in Ann Nicole Nelson Hall on the MSU campus. It is free and open to the public.

“Walter Piehl: Sweetheart of the Rodeo” documents how this North Dakota visual artist and MSU art professor combines an expressionistic painting style with visual investigations of many facets of Western Americana.

“When first filming Walter in 2008 for a seven minute segment of “Prairie Mosaic,” we realized we had only touched on the edge of his process and that we were only able to show a small glimpse of Walter,” said Bob Dambach, Prairie Public’s director of television. “We also had great material on him as a teacher, with all sorts of wonderful happenings in the classroom.”

“There’s no doubt that the example he offers as an artist and teacher is second to none,” said David Fuller, MSU president. “Everyone at Minot State University is proud of Walter’s accomplishments, his life-long devotion to his students, and his distinguished reputation as an artist, deserving of our high regard for him as a professional.”

Piehl was raised near Marion, N.D.

“It wasn’t until I was in the first grade that we got electricity and indoor plumbing on the farm,” Piehl said. “I liked to draw, so my parents gave me tablets, and I filled them up.”

After graduating from Marion High School, Piehl left the farm to attend Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., to study art. He quickly realized he lacked a formal art background and was at a disadvantage compared to many of his classmates. He described his early years in college as a “terrifying experience.”

“I thought art was about drawing; classes in college were over my head,” Piehl confessed. “The only reason I stayed was ‘fear of the haystack’.”

He graduated in 1964 with an art major and teaching certificate. Unsure about his abilities to make or teach art, Piehl enrolled in graduate school at the University of North Dakota (Grand Forks) and received a Master of Arts in painting and drawing two years later.

“I didn’t feel confident about my work until I got to grad school at UND,” Piehl said. ”One of my instructors encouraged me to use Western Americana as subject in my artwork. That piqued my interest, and I have never looked back.”

Early in his career, Piehl taught in Dickinson, Valley City, Ellendale and Mayville. In 1969, he entered the University of Minnesota Fine Art Department to pursue an MFA. Fall semester 1971, he began teaching drawing, painting and art education methods at MSU.

Piehl has exhibited his work regionally, nationally and internationally. True to the roots he tried to escape, Piehl describes his art as expressionistic Western Americana, but with a modern, contemporary influence.

Dambach said that “Walter Piehl: Sweetheart of the Rodeo” gives viewers a glimpse of the method Piehl uses in creating his art and illustrates that what may appear chaotic or confusing to the casual observer, is actually visually stunning and full of activity, when one knows what to look for.

“Once you have that knowledge,” Dambach said, “his paintings become a different experience. We wanted people to understand what a treasure Minot has in Walter and where he fits in the art world.”

“I like the act of painting,” Piehl said. “The first stages of my paint application are chaotic, out of control. The exciting part is to bring chaos under control and direct it toward an image I feel good about. For me, it’s the solving of the problems in the painting that’s exciting. I never know what the end product is going to be like.”

Among his many honors and awards is the 2008 Enduring Visions Award for his creativity, connection to community and impressive body of work from the Bush Foundation, a private foundation serving Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Piehl was one of three people selected for the prestigious $100,000 award and described it as the highlight of his art career.

In spite of more than 40 years in the classroom, museums and galleries across the country, Piehl’s ambitions are much more humble than most with his talent. Long after he is gone, Piehl said he hopes people look at his work and think, “He made some good stuff.”

“Walter Piehl: Sweetheart of the Rodeo” is scheduled to run on Prairie Public’s television service on October 11, 7:30 p.m. (CT).