A Sense of Place: A Carl Homstad Retrospective

It's your last chance to see this popular exhibition. A closing reception is scheduled for April 21 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. with free admission. At 2:30, artist Carl Homstad will give a gallery talk. Also at 1:30, there will be a gallery talk in another Vesterheim exhibition, Childhood, led by Jennifer Kovarik, Vesterheim's Registrar and Youth Educator.

A Sense of Place: A Carl Homstad Retrospective, which is on view until April 28, is a retrospective exhibition that includes more than 40 woodcuts, etchings, drawings, watercolors, and oil paintings by Carl Homstad. Born in 1951 in Denver, Colorado, Homstad has lived in rural Decorah, Iowa, since 1970. He graduated from Luther College with a B.A. in art in 1973. The exhibition is sponsored by James A. and Elaine Halls, Perry Novak Electric Inc., and A&J Petersburg Agency.

His artworks have been part of many juried and invitational shows throughout the Midwest. In 1995 he received a grant from the Iowa Arts Council to create woodcut images for An Iowa Alphabet of Trees, created in collaboration with poet Michael Carey, and in 1986-87 the Iowa Arts Council sponsored a touring exhibition of his work titled A Printmaker’s Portrait of Rural Life.

Homstad is best known for naturalistic landscapes that depict the universal theme of people in nature. The artworks for this exhibition are selected from more than 60 pieces done within a mile of the artist’s home and studio. A center point in the gallery will represent the home and the artworks will be arranged from that perspective. The artworks showing a view looking north will be on the north wall, etc. Visitors will be able to experience the artist’s greatest inspiration, his home in beautiful Springwater Township, in all seasons and at all times of day. 

“The exhibition isn’t just a retrospective, a look back at an artist’s lifetime of work. This is an opportunity to stand with the artist at his easel and sketch pad and see through his eyes the place that has had such a significant impact on him and his art,” said Laurann Gilbertson, Vesterheim Chief Curator.