Emmett Van Buskirk

Emmett Van Buskirk (UIU 1968-2000) started at Upper Iowa University in 1968 as an Art Instructor. Before coming to UIU, Van Buskirk graduated from Middlebury College in Vermont with an undergraduate degree in Art and a minor in Language Arts with a combination of English and Theatre. He earned a Masters of Art Education from Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. He taught four years of high school art, then applied for a one-year appointment at Upper Iowa University in 1968. 22 years later, he retired, and was named Professor Emeritus of Art. Throughout those years, he had risen from instructor to head of the art department. Van Buskirk painted primarily with watercolors. He received many awards and recognitions throughout his time at UIU. He was accepted into the Annual Iowa Arts Show in 1974 with the painting "Luxuria," a watercolor based on a conception of the Medieval period. In 1979 he earned three Merit Awards at the Charles H. MacNider Museum's Area Competitive Art Show held in Mason City with his watercolor, "Iowa Spring," depicting holding pens in Sumner. Also in 1979, "A Rogers Group" was included in the Des Moines Art Center's Iowa Artists Exhibit. The name refers to John Rogers who sculpted typical Americans in every-day life; the painting showed Van Buskirk’s grandmother playing cards with three other women at a marble-topped table with a Rogers sculpture in the background. He also had a one-man show at the Cedar Falls Metropolitan Gallery in 1979-1980, and was selected by the Cedar Falls Recreation Center to exhibit twenty to thirty of his paintings. City Hall in Cedar Falls displayed ten of his paintings in 1982. The Metropolitan Art Gallery in Cedar Falls displayed his work in a solo show, as well as a retrospective show featuring 22 of the most important Iowa artists. Critics compared Van Buskirk with Grant Wood, another Iowa artist, famous for his “American Gothic” painting. (Collegian, December 8th, 1983). Other awards include MacNider's Museum Jurors Special award; the Waterloo Art Association award; first place in the Des Moines Art Show, first place in the KWWL Show, first place in the Cedar Falls Iowa Competition, and the 1990 recipient of the Sears award for excellence in teaching. Van Buskirk painted scenes around Fayette. One colorful fall he painted a round barn near Postville. That painting was sold during a fundraising project for the Fayette Community Library to renovate and expand for a community room in 1999. His watercolor of Fayette's Evenson Brothers, Martin and Edwin, was also chosen by the prestigious MacNider Museum in Mason City for display. "’I consider Martin and Edwin close friends,’ said Van Buskirk ‘It's been an honor to paint them. They are representative of the friendly and hard working people of northeastern Iowa.’ The Evenson brothers (ages 72 and 74) are bachelors who reside on a farm on the northeast edge of the Fayette city limits. Their house does not have electricity, indoor plumbing, or running water. The conveniences they have include a telephone, area newspapers, and a portable radio. The brothers have maintained a life, that was common to the first half of the 20th century, and they are contented to live in ‘the old ways.’” (Collegian, July 26th, 1984). The Evenson Brothers painting is on display in the Fayette Community Library. Van Buskirk’s most beloved paintings on the Upper Iowa University campus are his ten watercolor paintings of the buildings Alexander-Dickman Hall, Baker-Hebron Hall, Chemistry Hall, Colgrove-Walker Auditorium, Dorman Memorial Gymnasium, Edgar Fine Arts Hall, Garbee Complex, Graf Hall, Henderson-Wilder Library, and Maltbie-McCosh Hall that may be seen in this digital archive.See also the watercolor paintings by Emmett Van Buskirk of Alexander-Dickman Hall, Baker-Hebron Hall, Chemistry Hall, Colgrove-Walker Auditorium, Dorman Memorial Gymnasium, Edgar Fine Arts Hall, Garbee Complex, Graf Hall, Henderson-Wilder Library, and Maltbie-McCosh Hall.[Title], Upper Iowa University Digital Archives, [Reference URL]. See 'About' page for more information