Exhibition Press Release: University of Minnesota Duluth, 1963

Friday, March 26, 2021

Exhibition Press Release: University of Minnesota Duluth, 1963

October 31, 1963

A UMD art faculty exhibition of paintings and sculpture opens with an 8-10 p.m. reception November 5 in Tweed Gallery. It will remain up through December 1.

The contributors will be: J. Dorrance Kiser, Rudolph I. Schauer, assistant professors; Orazio Fumagalli, associate professor; and Forrest R. Bailey and Wolfram F. Niessen, instructors.

Fumagalli and Niessen will show sculpture. A first-year member of the faculty, Niessen's work deals chiefly with life experiences. Many of the pieces were done while he was at Michigan State University.

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Wolfram Friedrich Niessen, 1923 - 2004

German-born sculptor and educator, Wolfram Friedrich Niessen, had an extensive background in the arts beginning in the mid-1940's and later went on to receive advanced degrees in both Germany and the USA. His teaching credentials list him as a former staff member of five different U.S. and Canadian universities, beginning in 1956, including the University Of Wisconsin-Stout and Northern Michigan University, from which he retired in the mid 80's.

Proficient in all mediums of sculpture, in the 1950's/60's Niessen exhibited avant garde pieces made of a variety of materials such as wood, iron, aluminum and acrylic. Later he became better known for his bronze busts of internationally known individuals. His pieces have been exhibited in many prestigious galleries and museums around the world.

Niessen, who later in life changed his name to Ben Monte-Auburn Lancaster, spent his last years at his art studio in Wheeler, Wisconsin, sculpting, occasionally travelling, and continuing his work of more than 30 years: planting and maintaining thousands of trees to re-forest damaged ecosystems. He died in 2004.

This is a commemorative site to celebrate the life, art and philosophy of Wolfram Niessen.