James D. Butler (b. 1945)

Born in Fort Dodge, Iowa in 1945, he received a BS Degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and an MFA from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He is known for mod printmaking techniques. From 1970 to 76, he was Professor of Art at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and has been teaching lithography from 1976-present at Illinois State University at Normal . He lives in Bloomington, Illinois.

Awards/Fellowships:
2000 Distinguished Professor of Art, Illinois State University, Normal, IL
1998 Shirk Memorial Award for Historic Preservation from the Oklahoma Historical Society - Federal Courthouse Project
1996 University Outstanding Researcher Award
1995 College of Fine Arts Outstanding Teacher Award
1989, 1985 Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowships
1985-86 & 1979-80 National Endowment for the Arts Artist Fellowships
1982-83 Illinois Arts Council Project Completion Grant
1969-70 Wood Trust Graduate Fellowship
1969 F.W. Vreeland Award

Selected Exhibitions:
1996-97 "Rediscovering the Landscape of the Americas", Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1996-97 "Plain Pictures: Images of the American Prairie", The University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, Iowa
1993 "Four by Four", Sherry French Gallery, New York, NY
1992 "The Challenge of the Landscape", Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL
1990-91 "Slected Artists", Babcock Galleries, New York, NY
1990 "Contemporary Landscape", Babcock Galleries, New York, NY
1989 "40th Annual Academy-Institute Purchase Exhibition", American Academy Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
1987 "In a New Light: Three Views of the Heartland", State of Illinois Gallery, Chicago, IL
1985 "Heartland Painters", Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL
1984 "A New Look at American Landscapes", Frumkin and Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL

Selected Collections:
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE
Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, IL
Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC
Baltimore Museum of Art, MD
Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, MN
Indianapolis Museum of Art, IN
Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL
British Museum, London, England
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
Evansville Museum of Arts & Science, Evansville, IN

Artist Statement:
"Many of my landscape images come from Nebraska and Iowa. All of my choices of sites for paintings, drawings and prints begin with a passionate attachment to the subject. Decisions about composition and scale come in response to my personal experience with the site. For me, looking at art is a perceptual event. Paintings are inventions, whether they are abstract or representational. Finding a way to create in paint an experience that might parallel what I see is a significant part of the magic of art for me."

Sources include:
cfa.ilstu.edu
aobfineart.com