| Bruce
Loeschen's pen and ink montages have reflected the architectural
and historic spirit of small towns throughout the country
for over 25 years.
Combining local landmarks and figures with the commercial
landscape,
Loeschen's portrait's are a time capsule, capturing one moment
in the life
of a city. With what critics have described as Victorian style,
Loeschen
creates a distinguished rendering of modern structures. The
foundation
incorporates the roots and location of the city, working upwards
towards the
contemporary skyline.
The
pieces have been popular with local residents and businesses
even years later, acting as reminders of the cityscapes from
their past. In 1979, his first piece, of Austin, Minn., was
a surprise hit, prompting a one-man show
that traveled through many states. As his popularity increased,
he was
commissioned to do more montages of local areas and eventually
on a national level. Corporations, school districts and family
reunions have also employed Loeschen's unique montage style.
In 2001, he completed a montage celebrating the sesquicentennial
of Wartburg College,
with religious features
represented in the context of the World Trade Center attacks
of September
11.
Loeschen
received his Bachelor of Arts in art education from Wartburg
College. He received graduate credits from the University
of Minnesota and
received his Masters Degree at Bank Street College and Parson's
School of
Design in New York, New York. He also completed summer studies
in
Cuernavaca, Mexico City, Mexico, and Taos, New Mexico.
In
his career, he has created nearly 150 city and 20 corporate,
personal and school montages and has been featured in Arts
and Activities magazine and
Illinois Prairie Visions.
He
has been an art instructor at Southland isd 500, Art Instruction
schools,
Mpls, U of W summer Indian Head and Austin MN High School.
At Austin he received the first Apple Award for Excellence
in Education, and various
distinguished, honorable and Mentorship Teacher Awards.
Other
activities include:
- 25
commemorative prints placed aboard the space shuttle Columbia
in 1981 for its third mission. He is the only artist ever
to receieve this honor.
- Illustrator
for the Hormel Foods Inc. Centennial Poster.
- The
best-in-show award at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival
in 1988.
- Two
1,000 square-foot murals for Wartburg College commemorating
the school's heritage.
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