Joan Waltemath, born in 1953, grew up on the Great Plains where her German ancestors settled in the late 19th century. Her
early experiences in nature and looking at native geometries inform her work. Grounded in the cross-disciplinary exchange in 1970s downtown New York, her painting and drawing emerges through an engagement with visions, architectonics, art and historical contexts, and materials. The
Waltemath Foundation building in Hooper, NE provides a unique opportunity to collaborate with architects
Ballman/Khapalova on a project where Architecture and Painting are no longer separate entities, but rather one which furthers the evolution their dialogical relation from the cave wall to the fresco to a contemporary expression.
Waltemath is the 2022 recipient of the Helen Frankenthaler Award for innovation and experimentation in painting from the
Foundation for Contemporary Art, the Jacob Lawrence Award in 2018 from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; a Creative Capital Award in 2012 for her Treaty of 1868 project, which led to the purchase of the Hooper building in 2017; and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2008. She received the support of many Nebraska art residencies for the Treaty project including the
Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE in 2017 and 2008; Art Farm, Marquette, NE in 2014-2016, 2011 and 2009.
