Photo by Patrice Wolf
A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY: RON KROUTEL
Growing up in Chicago, Kroutel attended The Art Institute of Chicago for studio art courses in painting and drawing and The University of Chicago for academic courses. After an unsatisfying two-year stint teaching Art and English in an area high school, he was motivated to move to Ann Arbor where he earned an MFA in painting at The University of Michigan. He then taught in Detroit for three years at Marygrove College and at The Society of Arts and Crafts, a professional art school.
In 1966 he took a position at Ohio University where he eventually became chair of painting, drawing, and foundations for many years. Nationally and internationally exhibited with over 39 solo exhibitions, Kroutel has been awarded three Ohio Arts Council Fellowships, an Arts Midwest NEA Fellowship, and numerous prizes and awards. His work most recently has appeared in the book International Painting Annual 1, published by Manifest Gallery. His work has been acquired by eight museums nationally and has been added to many private collections.
As a professor at Ohio University, he had the good fortune to teach in a considerable number of Education Abroad programs in London, Prague, and Florence. These experiences profoundly influenced his teaching and his art practice. More recently he finished teaching in Ohio University's London Education Abroad program starting in the summer of the year 2000.
Early in 2018, Kroutel was honored with a retrospective exhibition at the Kennedy Museum of Art in Athens, Ohio entitled "50 Year Journey: Ron Kroutel Paintings." Taking up the entire museum, the exhibition followed the 50-year developmental trajectory of his work while teaching at Ohio University and working in Athens. Curated by the internationally recognized filmmaker Rajko Grlic, a 100-page book in color was published by the museum.
He and his wife, Patrice Wolf, a recognized painter herself, now work in their studios in Old Town, Fort Collins, CO where they moved in 2016. Since relocating to Fort Collins, he has exhibited his work in a solo exhibition at the Museum of Art Fort Collins, a duo exhibition at the University of Wyoming Art Museum and in galleries in Denver and locally.