JoAnna Poehlmann | |
|---|---|
 Poehlmann giving an interview in 2015 | |
| Born | 1932 (age 92–93) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Milwaukee Art Institute Layton School of Art Marquette University University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee |
| Elected | Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters (2011) |
JoAnna Poehlmann (born September 1932) is an American painter, printmaker, book artist, and taxidermy artist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
JoAnna Poehlmann was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1932. Her paternal great-grandfather, Friedrich Poehlmann (1819–1884), had immigrated from Bavaria in 1853 and opened the first bakery in the city shortly thereafter. [1]
After a brief stint at the Milwaukee Art Institute, JoAnna enrolled at the Layton School of Art, studying under painter Karl Priebe. [2] [3] Priebe introduced her to visual artists in Wisconsin and Illinois, including Jerome E. Karidis, John Wilde, Dudley Huppler, and Gertrude Abercrombie. Following her graduation in 1954, she worked as an illustrator for Hallmark Cards and Western Publishing, as well as for department stores including Boston Store. [2] [4]
Though she pursued a career in the fine arts at the same time, including through collaborations with printmaker John Gruenwald (born 1951), it was not until the 1990s that her works became both sought and acquired by public institutions. [5] In the early 2000s, regular solo and collective exhibitions started showcasing her work in Wisconsin and beyond, culminating in the 2015 exhibition “JoAnna Poehlmann: Now and Then”, organized by RedLine Gallery, Milwaukee, which presented a retrospective of her entire career. [6]
In 2011, Poehlmann was named a fellow of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, and her art was featured in a show alongside that of painter Lee Weiss. [7] [8]
Poehlmann’s body of work includes artist’s books, watercolor paintings, lithographs, collages, and taxidermy. Mainly focused on natural history and the animal world, some of her pieces directly reference prints and paintings by Albrecht Dürer, René Magritte, and Frida Kahlo. [9]
Her work is represented in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, Walker Art Center, Milwaukee Art Museum, Racine Art Museum, and Center for Book Arts. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]