“Old Works Revisited – Paintings and Drawings by Dan Brinkmeier” will be the first exhibit in Ashford University’s Cortona Art Gallery for the 2008-09 season. Brinkmeier’s artwork will be on display in the Gallery from September 8 through October 30, with an artist’s reception planned for Tuesday, Sept. 8 from 4-6 p.m. 

Dan Brinkmeier is a writer, painter, science illustrator, and teacher who grew up on a small family farm in Mt. Carroll, IL.  His work has been widely seen in museum exhibits, and used in educational materials in the U.S., Africa, and South America.  His personal art – which links landscape, Midwestern agriculture, society and spirituality – is seldom shown to the public.  

An artist and educator for most of his professional life, Brinkmeier fits into a little academic corner that bridges the fields of journalism, mass communication, visual art, and rural sociology.  Specifically, he works in the area of visual communication for rural development – as applied to environmental conservation, historical documentation, and the use of simple, visual media in aiding the transfer of scientific information to rural audiences (usually small villages, community groups or individual farmers).  He has worked as a teacher and trainer in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Cuba, Uganda, and The Democratic Republic of The Congo.  

The link between art and communication has always been a part of Brinkmeier’s life.  His father was a county farm advisor, and from an early age he used his artistic skills to produce educational materials for farmers in Carroll County, IL.  For Brinkmeier, art was, and still is, a tool used to teach and inform.  His connection with the land and rural society remains strong, and the spiritual relationship of people and their landscape remains a major theme in his art.

As an artist, Brinkmeier was influenced by the work of the Regionalists, (the short-lived art movement also known as American Scene Painting).  After living and traveling in Europe in the early 1970s, he became interested in both political and religious art, and saw the power of art when used as a teaching tool. 

After nearly 28 years, Brinkmeier recently retired from Chicago’s Field Museum in order to focus once again on the farm he grew up on, and to paint. He has a BFA in painting from the University of Illinois and an MS in Journalism and Mass Communication from Iowa State University.  From 1994 to 1995 he taught art at Mount St. Clare College, predecessor to Ashford University.  

About Ashford University

Founded in 1918, Ashford University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The University offers graduate and undergraduate degree programs online and at its Clinton, Iowa, campus.   The University is known for its high quality yet highly affordable online and on-campus programs. For more information, please visit www.ashford.edu or call Shari Rodriguez, director of Public Relations, at 858/513-9240 x2513.