The Cameron University art program is pleased to present visiting artist Don Crouch, who will present “Don Crouch: The Collector and the Master,” a visual lecture, as well as “Myth and Reality: Western Masters,” an exhibition of his artwork, on Thursday, August 28. Both are open to the public at no charge.
Crouch’s visual lecture is set for 6 p.m. in the McCutcheon Recital Hall of the Music Building.
The exhibition of his artwork, ““Myth and Reality: Western Masters,” will open with a reception at 7:30 p.m. in the Art Teaching Gallery, located in the Art Building. The exhibition will be on display Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through September 26. The gallery will be closed Monday, September 1, in observance of Labor Day.
“My art is a combination of printmaking, bronze sculpture and oil painting,” Crouch says. “The subjects that most interest me are large animals in landscapes, mostly North American. I also do subjects including ancient ruins and artifacts of Indian art of the Americas. In my studio, I am surrounded by life-size taxidermy mounts, which are my friends and subjects. The walls are covered with contemporary and iconic painters like Carl Rungius. Making and collecting art is a way of life for me.”
A native of Carlsbad, New Mexico, Crouch authentically portrays the West he loves in his paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints. He grew up on a ranch until his family moved to El Paso, Texas. He backpacked then and now into the Western backcountry, from the Canadian Rockies to the deserts of Arizona, to draw, paint, and absorb the natural environment of animals, ancient Indian cultures and historic buildings.
Crouch earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in art is from Texas Western University and a Masters of Fine Art from the University of Iowa. He retired from Western Illinois University in 2011, where he taught printmaking, drawing and sculpture for 46 years.
Crouch was among 19 artists featured in the 2003 "New Art of the West 8," a biennial exhibition at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis. In the artist's statement for that show, Crouch wrote: "My early connection with horses, ranchers, ruins, artifacts, the border between the United States and Mexico, and the confluence of diverse peoples leads me to both old and new ideas, and the meeting of myth and reality. My heritage includes the form and content of my art. I am constantly aware of the cycle of the West as I encounter ancient and more recent artists and objects, often utilitarian, but left behind in the rush of history … My goal is to capture the essence of my subjects with an implicit timelessness."
Crouch's work is in many public collections and has been the topic of numerous news stories and magazine features.
Funding for Crouch’s lecture and exhibition has been provided by Cameron University Student Activity Fees.
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