David Lenz
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1985
Selected exhibitions
(Group exhibitions unless otherwise noted)
Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, WI
David Lenz: People on the Periphery, solo mid-career retrospective, highest visitor attendance for an exhibition in the history of the museum, exhibition catalog, 2016-17
To See Ourselves as Others See Us: Contemporary Wisconsin Portraits, 2010
New Work, 1993
Lawton Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
Figuring It Out, 2014
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
American Story, exhibition catalog, 2009-2010
Eight Counties, 2005 (First Place Award)
Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC
Struggle for Justice, permanent installation
Rare Halo Display: Portrait of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the first commissioned portrait of a person other than the president or first lady, part of the permanent collection and listed on the Portrait Gallery’s Fact Sheet (dated 2-2-17) as one of the museum’s 13 most prominent works. Unveiling ceremony May 9, 2009
Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, exhibition catalog, 2006 (First Place Award)
James Watrous Gallery, Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, Madison, WI
Building a Visual Arts Legacy, 2008
Wisconsin’s People on the Land, 2008
Open Studios Press, An exhibition in print
New American Paintings, Midwest Edition no. 65, 2006
Charles Allis Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
David M. Lenz: Urban and Rural Paintings of Wisconsin, solo mid-career retrospective, exhibition catalog, 2004
Self & Other Portraits: Wisconsin Artists, 2002
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
Beyond City Limits: Rural Views of the Midwest, 2004
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI
Wisconsin Triennial, exhibition catalogs, 2002 and 1993
Lakefront Festival of Arts
Grounds of the Milwaukee Art Museum, each year 1990 through 1998 and 2002
Selected publications, reviews & interviews
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
What it takes to make my art by David Lenz, op-ed, November 19, 2016
David Lenz wields his prowess to honor the powerless, by Jim Higgins, October 9, 2016
Artwork Shuffle at Governor's Mansion Raises Eyebrows by Daniel Bice, June 5, 2010
A Different Lenz, Son Forces Local Artist to See the 'Perfect' World with New Eyes, by Mary Louise Schumacher, July 17, 2006
In a Father's Experience, Perfection: Shorewood Artist's Work Earns Top Award in National Contest, by Mary Louise Schumacher, front page, June 23, 2006
Canvas & Plow: A Wisconsin Elegy, by Crocker Stephenson, a four part series, total of 12 pages, the longest single feature article in the 166-year history of the newspaper, consecutive Sundays January 14 to February 4, 2001
Climbing a Hill: Mural Pays Homage to the Bravery of Children with Illnesses, by James Auer, September 21, 2000
Al Jazeera English
US artist's life-like paintings shed light on race, poverty, 2:13 minute feature, aired worldwide (270 million households, 140 countries) December 25, 2016
Milwaukee Public Television
The Arts Page Feature: David Lenz, 5:50 minute feature aired on 30 public TV stations nationwide November 11, 2016
WUWM, Milwaukee Public Radio
People on the Periphery' at MOWA Offers Retrospective Look at David Lenz's Work, 12:06 minute interview October 27, 2016
Shepherd Express, Milwaukee,WI
The Subversive Art of Portrait Painting, cover and article October 4, 2016
Museum of Wisconsin Art
David Lenz: People on the Periphery by Graeme Reid, hardcover exhibition catalog/book, 2016
Athena-Verlag (Oberhausen, Germany)
Art Lessons and Inclusion, by Anna Maria Loffredo, Portrait of Eunice Kennedy Shriver reproduced on page 99, 2016
The Cap Times, Madison, WI
Back in the Picture by Joel McNally, Portrait of Governor Jim Doyle reproduced on the cover,
August 14, 2013
Frances Lincoln Limited, London
Child: Portraits by 40 Great Artists by Juliet Heslewood, 2013
The Huffington Post
David Lenz: The Egalitarian Realist by John Seed, November 16, 2012
Pantheon Books
Phi: A Voyage from the Brain to the Soul, by Giulio Tononi, Sam and the Perfect World reproduced on page 317, 2012
Smithsonian Channel
Smithsonian Spotlight: Making the Winning Portrait, 30-minute interview and feature, aired nationwide February and March, 2010
John Michael Kohler Art Center
American Story, exhibition catalog, Thistles reproduced on the cover, 2009
CBS news Channel 58, Milwaukee, WI
Eye to Eye with Paul Piaskoski, 30-minute interview and feature, aired Sunday morning July 26, 2009
Associated Press
Gallery installs Eunice Kennedy Shriver portrait, Newspapers and television news nationwide, May 9, 2009
Potomac Almanac
Honoring a Lifetime of Advocacy: National Portrait Gallery unveils Eunice Kennedy Shriver portrait, by Carole Dell, May 20, 2009
Smithsonian Magazine
Eunice Kennedy Shriver Portrait Unveiled, by Barbara Sanford, May 2009
PROFILE Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery News
NPG Unveils Shriver Portrait by Andrea Baer, Fall/Winter 2009
A ‘Perfect’ Ending to the First Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, by Andrea Baer, Fall 2006
Wisconsin Trails Magazine
Painting the Unseen, by Joan Fischer, August 2008
Wisconsin State Journal
Behind the Brush: Realist Painter David Lenz Finds a Rural Wonderland in Sauk County, by Gayle Worland, April 22, 2007
Academic Medicine Magazine
Commentary: Sam and the Perfect World, by Dr. Barry Bub, February 2007
The Utah Special Educator
Sam and the Perfect World, by David Lenz, op-ed, Sam and the Perfect World reproduced on the cover September 6, 2006
Wisconsin People & Ideas Magazine
A “Perfect World” with Questions, by Joan Fischer, Fall 2006
National Public Radio
Looking History in the Eye at Portrait Gallery, Talk of the Nation, live on-air interview with Lynn Neary, July 13, 2006
Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2006 exhibition catalog, essay by Dave Hickey,
Sam and the Perfect World featured on the cover
Charles Allis Art Museum
David M. Lenz: Urban and Rural Paintings of Wisconsin, interview by Jeffery R. Hayes, exhibition catalog published 2004
Selected collections
Bader Philanthropies
Chazen Museum of Art
Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
Milwaukee Art Museum
The City of Milwaukee
Museum of Wisconsin Art
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
Pieper Electric Company
Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
West Bend Mutual Life Insurance Company
Wisconsin Historical Society
Numerous private collections
Selected presentations
Sam and the Perfect World: A Conversation with Artist David Lenz, Milwaukee Art Museum, Lubar Auditorium, formal presentation June 5, 2011
Rare Halo Display: Portrait of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, remarks during the unveiling ceremony in the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard, followed by a formal presentation of the painting with Brandon Fortune, NPG Painting and Drawing Curator, in the Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium, Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, May 9, 2009
Everyone Else: Painting the Unsung, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, formal presentation, November 12, 2009
Everyday People: The Art of David Lenz, Milwaukee Art Museum, Lubar Auditorium, Academy Evening Talk, September 27, 2007
The Edgar P. Richardson Symposium, Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium, Conversation with the Artist David Lenz and NPG Director Marc Pachter, November 17, 2006
OBPC Youth Symposium, Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium, October 5, 2006
Selected awards
Academy Fellow, Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, inducted in 2009
Wisconsin Visual Arts Lifetime Achievement Award, 2008
First Place, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2006
Award of Excellence, Lakefront Festival of Arts, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2002
People’s Choice Award, Lakefront Festival of Arts, 1991, 1992, 1993