Artists' Statement
Many years ago a real breakfast group, brought together by common interests, began to meet one morning per week.
Now it is the last of the full moon of autumn. Bob Kleinschmidt is gone and there is nothing we can do about it; we try to find ways to stay close.
French movies? Not an obvious choice but seemed to deliver a way forward — a murder mystery “Murder in …”, where the main character is a new and delightful location each week, a part of the world beyond this one. Mary Jo Kleinschmidt's house is full of memories. It is the place where we watch movies in a language we don’t speak, and since last November, Sam Wilson has not been with us. He was the source of many jokes, puns and wisecracking remarks with a group of artists whose enduring friendships keep them coming back each week.
Artists' Bio
BOB KLEINSCHMIDT 1927 - 2019
After teaching art in public schools in Missouri and Illinois for a number of years, Bob attended the University of Wisconsin Madison where he received his MFA in Printmaking in 1969. That fall, he was employed by the University of Utah, where he taught Printmaking for 30 years, retiring in 1999. After retirement, he continued producing prints until Macular Degeneration impaired his vision so that he could no longer produce work that met his own standards.
SUSAN MAKOV
Coming from New York to teach printmaking and photography at Weber State University in 1977, I have lived in Salt Lake City since 1985. I have focused on painting for the last fifteen years. Recent years have found my work emphasizing observation, elements of photography and digital assemblage, with an intuitive appreciation for the natural world. While responding to the land’s formal beauty, I find a joyful way of discovering a living essence of nature in trees.
SUSAN BECK
Susan Johnson Beck was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. She received her BA, MFA, and Teaching Certification from the University of Utah. Her teaching career has spanned five decades and includes Artist in Education through the Utah Arts Council, Rowland Hall, and the University of Utah. Her work has been exhibited in a variety of museums and galleries. Her most rewarding learning experience came from working with children and young adults who always find it so easy to be themselves when making art.
STEVEN FAWSON
Steven Fawson was born in Salt Lake City in 1952. He has also lived and worked in Washington and Colorado. He attended the University of Utah, graduating with a BFA in Painting and Drawing. He specializes in portraiture, landscape, and still life.
THOMAS S. HOFFMAN
Thomas S. Hoffman was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1952. He is a realist painter whose work has evolved from autobiographical to social commentary to still life and landscape. After learning all he could on his own, Tom earned a BFA from the Arts Institute of Chicago in 1989, and an MFA from Northwestern University in 1991. He was an Assistant Professor at the University of Utah. He retired after 20 years with Emeritus Status.
SAM WILSON 1943 - 2023
Roger “Sam” Wilson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1943. Sam is a painter that specializes in realism and illusion. After 36 years, he retired from teaching at the University of Utah in 2015. Sam completed a masters degree at California State University, Long Beach. His work has been exhibited throughout the Intermountain region and in California, earning him numerous awards. In the 1980’s he spent 16 months doing the interior of the Cathedral of the Madeline in Salt Lake City, Utah.
CONNIE McCORMICK BORUP
Connie Borup was born in Kaysville, Utah in 1945. She is a landscapist whose work is characterized by an atonalist style combined with a unique sense of color. She earned a BA degree in German in 1976, a BFA in painting and drawing from the University of Utah in 1975, and a MFA from the University of Utah in 1992. She has been honored with numerous grants and awards.
KRISTIE KRUMBACH
Kristie was born on an army base in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1955, She received her BA degree in 1980 from the University of Utah Art Department with an emphasis in small metals. Over the past 40 years, her metal work has been both sculptural and has also had an aesthetic based in jewelry making. Her work has been represented by galleries in Santa Fe, NM.
