ICA | IDAHO FOCUS | Frank Werner

	[ Drag the slider over image, click on the image to view large window. Please disable your pop-up blocker. ]
	Frank Werner Born and raised in New York City, Frank came to Idaho in 1974 following 20 years of service in the U.S.Marine Corps. While stationed at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina during the early 1970s, he served as a deputy wildlife protector. In the performance of these duties, he enjoyed personal contact with members of the local waterfowling community and had the opportunity to observe traditional wooden decoys in use. Rejecting the anti-aesthetic of blow-molded plastic decoys and unable to afford factory-made wooden ones, he started carving his own after arriving in Idaho. “Decoy making is, as from the beginning, influenced by the practical aspects of use. It involves an ongoing aesthetic investigation informed not only by the bird in hand, but with decoys in use as part of one’s hunting rig. Still driven by the unresolved tensions between what is useful and what pleases my eye, I’m fully engaged in exploring the relationships between the communities that nurture this art, and how these relationships inform visual expression.” While he began decoy making as a traditional artist, his subsequent involvement, in the late 1980s, with the contemporary visual arts community was both productive and aesthetically satisfying. Both learned a lot. Werner has earned two ICA Visual Arts Fellowships and the Idaho Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. He teaches decoy making as a Master Artist through the Idaho Traditional Arts Apprenticeship program.
	View featured artists

Molly Hill	Sally Machlis	Randall Miller
James Budde	Marilyn Lysohir	Sarah Swett
Kay Seurat	Linda Wolfe	Sue Rooke
Surel Mitchell	Frank Werner

flash developed by tonda lark

back

contact: info@arts.idaho.gov
webmaster: ludmilla saskova
codemaster: robert dickow

Phone: 208/334-2119 or 800/278-3863 Fax: 208/334-2488
Mailing address: P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0008
Street address: 2410 North Old Penitentiary Rd., Boise, ID 83712br /span style=font-size: 11px; color: #777777; site designed and developed by a href=http://www.buffalogirlsproductions.com title=Buffalo Girls Productions (http://www.buffalogirlsproductions.com). bgp/a/spanbr /