Carole Wantz

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by RichardMcCoy (talk | contribs) at 19:48, 22 July 2023. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Carole Wantz
Carole Wantz at the Indiana State Museum in 2021 in front of one of her artworks.
Born
Carole Golay

(1940-03-25)25 March 1940
Richmond, Indiana
Known forPainting, drawing, printmaking
MovementContemporary art
Children
  • Betsy Maddox
  • John Wantz


Carole Wantz

Carole Wantz is an artist from Richmond, Indiana. She specializes in creating portrait paintings of people and families that highlight their lives, accomplishments, and contributions to their communities.[1]

Background and history

In her early 30's, she began painting. She attended an art class with taught by Anthony Vestutto just to try it out. During the class, Vestutto told her that her painting just was not very good. After this, instead of giving up on her artistic dream, she decided to do some research to gather inspiration to make her paintings better. She found an artist that she really admired, Grandma Moses, and decided to start her own painting journey influenced by her inspiration from Grandma Moses.[2] One of her first commissioned portraits was for J. Irwin Miller, an industrialist in Columbus, Indiana as well as an influential part of Cummins. She was asked by the Columbus Chamber of Commerce to create a painting that told a story about Miller's life.

After being asked by J. Irwin Miller to create a portrait for his home, Carole got to work on her painting for him not expecting him to even display the painting in his house due to the fact that she was a newer artist and he had world-famous art in his home. He instead hung up the portrait that she made for him front and center in his home. This was her first major artistic accomplishment that she still talks about to this day. She then went on to paint more than 150 commissioned art pieces in the 1970s and 1980s.[3]

Wantz's artistic approach

After defining her artistic approach, it was clear why her paintings stood out from others. She decided to paint what she already knew, her everyday life. She has a very specific and distinguishable artistic style to her paintings; people playfully living their lives. This style of painting is what makes so many love and appreciate her art.

In order to create a "Wantz" portrait, there is extensive research and an interviewing process to gather information on the subject of the portrait. She gathers as much information as she can about the person she is painting by asking questions in an interview setting about their everyday life as well as their accomplishments, stories from their lives, and moments in life that they love. After the interview process with the subject of the portrait, she then does research to find who the person is close with, like their friends and family, to gather even more intel into their lives. She then takes the information that she has gathered through this process and begins painting. She has even been known to dive deeper and study family home videos to really capture the essence of the person that she is painting.


Some elements of her portraits make them stand out. For example, she paints the items in the background of her paintings the same size as items in the foreground. She does this so that people take their time studying the painting and because it makes the painting easier to enjoy because viewers do not have to study the depth of the background. Another element of her art that stands out is that her work includes famous Columbus landmarks. Her paintings include landmarks like the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library, the Large Arch sculpture, the tower of First Christian Church, and North Christian Church. By adding these recognizable Columbus landmarks to her paintings, she highlights the most significant parts of Columbus.


Something interesting about her portraits is that none of the people shown in them have well-defined faces. This could come across confusing because her paintings are considered "portraits", but she does such a good job of painting the person's life that viewers of the paintings just know who the portrait is of. Although her paintings are labeled as "portraits", they include more people than just the person for which the painting was made. She does this because she wants to include the people in the life of the subject that make them who they are, this can include their friends, family, or even pets.[4]

Artistic features

Wantz and her work have been featured in a number of major media outlets and on view at many art museums. One of her features was in the Indiana State Museum that was on display in 2021. This collection was named "The Artwork of Carole Wantz: Collected Stories from Columbus, Indiana" and it showcased 30 of her portraits. Another museum that her work has been in was the Richmond Art Museum (RAM) from February to April of 2022. Her paintings were also on display at the Bartholomew County Historical Society where they used her paintings to frame Columbus's history. She was also featured in the New York Times in May of 2021.

References

  1. ^ "The T List: Five Things We Recommend This Week". The New York Times. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  2. ^ Emery, Mike. "Carole Golay Wantz thrilled about returning home for Richmond Art Museum exhibit reception". Palladium-Item. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  3. ^ Pollard, Bekah (21 April 2021). "Discover the Art of Carole Wantz at the Indiana State Museum|Discover the Art of Carole Wantz at the Indiana State Museum". Indy Maven. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  4. ^ "The Stories Behind Our Newest Experience". Indiana State Museum. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carole_Wantz&oldid=1166626895"