Olsen, Herbert V. | American (1905 - 1973)

watercolor | 1948

Purchased by the Lafayette Art Association 1949.04

“America”, Herb Olsen once said, “probably leads the world in the number of excellent watercolor artists.” He was certainly among them. A prolific mid-20th-century painter, Olsen created vivid, accessible works that appeared on the covers of Reader’s Digest, Colliers, and Good Housekeeping. He won more than 70 major awards, authored five instructional books, and is represented in museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Myers, Jason | American, (b. 1972)

color screen print | 2019

Gift of the Long-Sharp Gallery | 2019.03.04

Jason Myers is a multidisiplinary American artist with studios in Indiana and the Netherlands. He received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and his MFA from American University. Drawing from broad experience across media, many of which he has taught at the university level, Myers combines traditional techniques with industrial materials and digital technologies.

Myers writes, “The journey of life can be a monumental struggle…Through perseverance, we embrace the trials of tomorrow, and each of us is a soldier of life…in our own battles.”

Calisch, Doug | American (b. 1954)

Mixed Media

100th Anniversary Gift to the Museum from the Art League | 2009.01

Doug Calisch, a longtime professor of art at Wabash College, received his B.F.A. from the University of Illinois and his M.F.A. from the University of Minnesota. His public commissions can be found at Purdue University, Ball Memorial Hospital, and in Osaka, Japan.

This sculptural assemblage was created using objects Calisch collected while walking along the U.S.-Mexico border. The piece reflects his broader practice of gathering, modifying, and composing with found materials to create layered, metaphor-rich works. Calisch likens this process to archeology, where the physical history of each object contributes to a larger narrative.
"The work becomes collaborative," he explains, "combining my actions with acts previous to mine."

Reed, Robert Browning | American, (1922-2007)

acrylic | 1988

Gift of the artist | 2007.04.02

Robert Browning Reed earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees at Indiana University and studied at the School of Painting and Sculpture in Mexico City. He taught printmaking and drawing at Purdue University from 1958 until his retirement in 1987. After his retirement, he was named Professor Emeritus by Purdue University.
In 1977, he originated the biennial "60 Square Inches," an international small print competition sponsored every two years by Purdue Galleries. Purchase prizes are awarded, and over 193 prints have been acquired for Purdue's collection since the inception of the exhibition. Modern or contemporary art often seems to go beyond narrative.
The images are meant to evoke a feeling. If there is a message hidden, it is often obscure or secondary.

Paul, Rick | American, (b. 1943)

mixed media | c. 1985

Gift of William Bache | 2019.04

Rick Paul received his BFA from the University of Florida and an
MA from Penn State. He taught at the University of Eastern Kentucky before joining the Purdue art faculty in 1974. He retired as an Emeritus Professor in 2017.

Paul has been awarded numerous grants and awards. These include a Master Fellowship in sculpture from the National Endowment for the Arts and an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Indiana Arts Commission. Paul has had numerous solo and group exhibitions. Many of his solo exhibitions have been ethereal room-size installations featuring complex structures covered in transparent fabric.

Paul has served as a visiting artist in residence at Ohio State, Historic New Harmony, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Cranbrook Academy of Art.
His work is represented in numerous private, university, and museum collections.

Clark, Kathryn | American, (b. 1944)

lithograph | 1971

Gift of Kathryn and Howard Clark | 2015.01.01

Kathryn Haugh Clark was born and raised in Indianapolis and received her BFA and MFA degrees in fine art. In 1971, she and her husband, Howard, founded Twinrocker Handmade Paper, and she was central to the revival of handmade paper in America. Clark began painting watercolors in 1985 to test the papers that Twinrocker Handmade Paper was making.
She soon fell in love with the medium and has been painting ever since.

Today, Clark exhibits artworks in watercolor, graphite, and oil. She now paints outdoors, directly from nature, "en plein air" as much as possible. She has been a full-time painter since 2008 and was recognized and elected to artist member status of the Indiana Artists Club, the Brown County Art Guild in Nashville, IN, Oil Painters of America, The American Impressionist Society, and the Hoosier Salon.

Her paintings are included in the permanent collections of the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette and the Indiana State Museum.