Susan Moldenhauer, Buckhorn Bar & Parlor, photo by DPTurner Photography
Susan Moldenhauer explores ideas and ways of image-making that embrace advancing technology, the landscape as a foundational element, the search for aesthetic and poetic experiences, and a continuing questioning of how to make sense of the world in the split-second magic of photography. Her approach embraces the tradition of composing at the moment of exposure. Her poetic, lyrical work evokes the synthesis of light, darkness, movement and moment.
Moldenhauer is an artist, arts administrator, curator, artist advocate, and community leader who has worked to advance artists and the arts throughout her career. In 2017, she retired as Director & Chief Curator of the University of Wyoming Art Museum after 27 years of administrative and curatorial work. She co-founded artist and public art projects and continues to participate in these efforts. She also collaborates with an artist and dancer to explore the creative process through place-based projects.
Moldenhauer received her MFA from Penn State University and BFA from Northern Illinois University. She is a recipient of the 2017 Wyoming Governor’s Arts Award and the 2016 Wyoming Visual Artist Fellowship. She has a national exhibition record and is represented in numerous public collections. Moldenhauer lives and works in Laramie, Wyoming.
EDUCATION
1982
MFA, The Pennsylvania State University
1974
BFA, Northern Illinois University
EXHIBITION HISTORY
SOLO, TWO- AND THREE-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2019
Sequencing Through Time and Place: The Carissa Mine, National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum, Leadville, CO
Sequencing Through Time and Place: The Carissa Mine, Clay Paper Scissors Gallery, Cheyenne, WY
2018
Sequencing Through Time and Place: The Carissa Mine, Lander Art Center, Lander, WY
Sequencing Through Time and Place: The Carissa Mine, Visual Arts Gallery, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
2014
Sequencing through Time and Place: Venice, New Work by W. Lemen Bredehoft, Susan Moldenhauer, and Margaret Wilson, Center for the Arts, Jackson Hole, WY
2011
Composition from the Land: Egypt, Synergy Gallery, Laramie, WY
Sequencing Through Time and Place: Ucross | London | Fort Laramie, an experimental series of exhibitions by Wendy Bredehoft, Margaret Wilson, and Susan Moldenhauer, Gallery 211, Laramie, WY
2009
Place | Mind | Spirit, photographs by Susan Moldenhauer, Brayham Contemporary Art, Toronto, Canada
2007
Place | Mind | Spirit, recent photographs by Susan Moldenhauer, Brayham Contemporary Art, Toronto, Canada
2006
Translucence / Transparency, New Work by Blinn Jacobs and Susan Moldenhauer, Kehler Liddell Gallery, New Haven, CT
2005
Place, Mind, Spirit—Susan Moldenhauer, photographs, New Image Gallery, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
Place, Mind, Spirit—Susan Moldenhauer, photographs 1988 – 2004, Rosenthal Gallery of Art, Albertson College, Caldwell, ID
2004
Touchstone: New Work by Wendy Bredehoft and Susan Moldenhauer, Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site, Laramie, WY
2003
Landscapes of Mind and Place, Phototroph Gallery, Colorado Springs, CO
2001
Landscapes of Mind and Place, Vanier Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
2000
Landscapes of Mind and Place, Western Wyoming College Gallery, Rock Springs, WY
1999
Landscapes of Mind and Place, Nicolaysen Art Museum and Discovery Center, Casper, WY
Desert Varnish and Other Works, Big Red Gallery, Ucross Foundation, Clearmont, WY
1997
Desert Varnish, Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA
1995
Desert Varnish, One West Contemporary Art Center, Fort Collins, CO
1994
Desert Varnish, Goodstein Gallery, Casper College, Casper, WY
Desert Varnish, Wyoming Arts Council Gallery, Cheyenne, WY
1992
New Image Gallery, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
1990
Martin Museum of Art, Baylor University, Waco, TX
1989
Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA
Piedmont VA Community College Art Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
1988
McGuffey Art Center, Charlottesville, VA
1987
Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY
1985
Blue Sky Gallery, Portland Center for Visual Arts, Portland, OR
1984
The New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT
Greystone Gallery, Riverdale, NY
Graphics Gallery, University of Maine, Orono, ME
1983
Photography Gallery, University of Denver, CO
1982
Widener Gallery, Trinity College, Hartford, CT
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED)
2018
SWEET, Golden and Delicious….., Northern Illinois University Art Museum, DeKalb, IL
Ren-dez-vous 2018, Mystery Print Gallery, Pinedale, WY and Clay Paper Scissors Gallery, Cheyenne, WY
Worth a Thousand Words: Laramie Photographers, Clay Paper Scissors Gallery, Cheyenne, WY
2018, 2016, 2014, 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006
Touchstone Laramie, Laramie WY
2017
Place | Setting, 12 Wyoming Women Artists, Cabarrus Arts Council, Concord, NC
Wyoming Arts Council Biennial Fellowship Exhibition, Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY; Bonnie Laing-Malcolmson, curator
Art5 | Pipeline Artist Project, Mystery Print Gallery, Pinedale, WY; traveled to The Boarding House Gallery, Laramie, WY
2015
Ley Lines: Intersecting Conversations, University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY; HL.Hix, curator
2014
Portrait of Wyoming Invitational, Pedal House Gallery, Laramie, WY; traveled to Jackson Hole Center for the Arts, Jackson Hole, WY and Lander Art Center, Lander, WY; a Wyoming Art Party project
Photography by Women: Recent Additions to the Permanent Collection, Museum of Art, Bates College, Lewiston, ME; Dan Mills, curator
2011
Within the Landscape/the Landscape Within, Myers School of Art, University of Akron, OH; Charles Beneke, curator
In the Presence of Trees, 30th Anniversary invitational exhibition, Ucross Foundation, Clearmont, WY
2010
Ucross Foundation: Twenty-Seven Years of Visual Artist Residencies, Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY; traveled to the Ucross Foundation, Ucross, WY
Coe Library Invitational, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
2009
CONTACT Photography Fair, Brayhem Contemporary, Toronto, Canada
2005
Touchstone 2 + 3, Open Studio and Sale, Laramie, WY
2000
Photographic Imagination, Here Here Gallery: A Shelter for Ideas in Architecture, Art, and Design, Cleveland, OH
Kodachrome, Ron Judish Fine Art, Denver, CO
1999
Desert Wind: Contemporary Artists Working in NM: The Ray Graham Collection, Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND
1998
Six Contemporary Landscape Photographers, Harmony Gallery, Fort Collins, CO
1995
Photographing the American West, Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, Great Falls, MT
1994
You Call That Art?, One West Contemporary Art Center, Fort Collins, CO; Angela Brayham, curator
1993
Illuminance ’93, Lubbock Fine Arts Center, Lubbock TX; James Enyeart, juror
Mountain West Biennial Photography Exhibition, Nora Eccles Museum of Art, Logan, UT; Peter Goin, juror
1988
National Aperture 3, Sawtooth Building Galleries, Winston-Salem, NC; Helen Gee, Emmet Gowin, jurors
Photo Biennial III, Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK; Thomas Southall, juror
1987
Photo 21: A National Juried Exhibition, Kern Gallery, University Park, PA; Ray Metzker, juror
1985
PA Photography IV, Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA; Susan Kismaric, juror
1984
Light Sensitive IV, Thomas Center Galleries, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL; Jerry Uelsmann, Olivia Parker, jurors
1982
Contemporary Photography as Phantasy, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA; Fred Parker, juror
Cal Arts National Juried Exhibition, Valencia, CA; Douglas Heubler, Ken Josephson, jurors
1981
Imagism, The Light Factory, Charlotte, NC; Tina Freeman, juror
RESIDENCIES
2017
Ucross Foundation, Clearmont, WY
Carissa Mine, South Pass City Historic Site, South Pass City, WY
2008
Ucross Foundation, Clearmont, WY
VISITING ARTIST AND PUBLIC PROGRAMS (Selected)
2018
Sequencing Through Time and Place: The Carissa Mine, New Work by Wendy Lemen Bredehoft, Susan Moldenhauer, and Margaret Wilson, Visual Arts Building Gallery, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY; closing program, group tours
Sequencing Through Time and Place: The Carissa Mine, New Work by Wendy Lemen Bredehoft, Susan Moldenhauer, and Margaret Wilson, Lander Art Center, Lander, WY; opening program
Sequencing Through Time and Place: The Carissa Mine, New Work by Wendy Lemen Bredehoft, Susan Moldenhauer, and Margaret Wilson, Carissa Mine, South Pass City, WY; panel discussion
2017
Sequencing Through Time and Place: The Carissa Mine, New Work by Wendy Lemen Bredehoft, Susan Moldenhauer, and Margaret Wilson, Carissa Mine, South Pass City, WY; panel discussion
PUBLICATIONS (SELECTED)
EXHIBITION CATALOGS
2019
Sequencing Through Time and Place: The Carissa Mine, New Work by Wendy Lemen Bredehoft, Susan Moldenhauer, and Margaret Wilson, exhibition catalog; essay by Maggie Bourque, introduction by Joe Ellis
2017
Wyoming Arts Council Biennial Fellowship Exhibition, Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, WY; essay by Bonnie Laing-Malcolmson
2014
Sequencing Through Time & Place: Venice, Wendy Lemen Bredehoft, Susan Moldenhauer, Margaret Wilson, exhibition catalog
H.L. Hix, Ley Lines; Wilifred Laurer University Press, Canada
2011
Sequencing Through Time & Place: Ucross, London, Fort Laramie, Wendy Lemen Bredehoft, Susan Moldenhauer, Margaret Wilson, documentation catalog
In the Presence of Trees, Ucross Foundation; exhibition catalog, essay by Irene Borger
Within in the Landscape / the Landscape Within, University of Akron; exhibition catalog, essay by Charles Beneke
2010
Ucross Foundation: Twenty-Seven Years of Visual Arts Residencies, Nicolaysen Art Museum & Discovery Center; Lisa Hatchadoorian, curator
2009
Contact 2009, 13th Annual Toronto Photography Festival: Still Revolution, Toronto, Canada
2000
Desert Wind: Contemporary Artists Work in New Mexico: The Ray Graham Collection, Plains Art Museum
1999
Landscape of Mind and Place, Nicolaysen Art Museum & Discovery Center; essay by Bruce Richardson
BOOKS AND JOURNALS
2013
Open Window Review, Issue 5, Spring 2013; Lori Howe, editor
2012
High Desert Journal, Nov. 2012
2000
James Luciana, Black and White Photography: Manifest Visions / An International Collection, Gloucester, MA: Rockport Publishers
1995
Irma Gilgore, Lois Katz, and Martha Scott, The Searle Collection of Contemporary Art, 1995
1993
View Camera Magazine, “Readers Gallery,” July / Aug. 1993
AWARDS
2018, 2016, 2013, 2011, 2010, 2005, 1994, 1993
Individual Artist Grant, Wyoming Arts Council
2017
Wyoming Governor’s Arts Award
2016
Wyoming Arts Council Fellowship Award
2014
Finalist, 2015 Contemporary Northwest Art Awards, Portland Art Museum
2005
Bobby Hathaway Memorial Juror’s Award, Governor’s Capitol Art Exhibition
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2018
Review. Worth a thousand words: the work of Laramie photographers by Michael Shay, WyoFile.com, March 9, 2018
Interview. Governor’s Arts Award 2017: Susan Moldenhauer by the Wyoming Arts Council, 2018
Review. History of Art? by Dannine Donaho & Camillia El-Antably, WyoFile.com, September 4, 2018
Apollo, The International Art Magazine, https://www.apollo-magazine.com/richard-long-knighted-in-new-years-honours/, Jan 2, 2018
2017
Review. Wyoming to the World: 6 artists make meaning, by Bruce Richardson, WyoFile.org, October 13, 2017
US News, University of Wyoming Art Museum Director Retires, Dec 24, 2017
Artform, University of Wyoming Art Museum Retires, Dec 28, 2017
Laramie Boomerang, UW Art Museum director retires, Dec 21, 2017
Cody Enterprise, UW Art Museum director retires, Dec 27, 2017
Billings Gazette, University of Wyoming Art Museum director retires, Dec 24, 2017
Hyperallergic, Transitions, Dec 26, 2017
Sheridan Media, University of Wyoming Art Museum director retires, Dec 26. 2017
2016
Review. Touchstone Laramie brought artists together by Camellia El-Antably, WyoFile.com, December 2, 2016
2015
Listing. Susan Moldenhauer, MutualArt.org.
2013
Article. At Home in the West: The Lure of Public Land by William S Sutton, forward by Toby Jurovics, afterword by Susan B. Moldenhauer, GFT Publishing, 2013
Online exhibition. IN QUIRE: A crossing point for ideas, words, images, and energies, an online project by H. L. Hix, 2013
Feature article. Susan Moldenhauer – Issue 5 Featured Artist, by Victoria Alleck, Open Window Review, September 15, 2013
2011
Gallery 211 Hosts Experimental Exhibition, Explores Concept of Place and Creative Process, by Mike Gray, Laramie Live, June 14, 2011
2008
Interview. Reality Check Interview with Susan Moldenhauer & Wendy Bredehoft by Jackie Battenfield, The Artist’s Guide, 2008
1999
Feature article, Ucross exhibition, Casper Star Tribune, Arts & Leisure section, March 28, 1999
1998
Feature article, Six Contemporary Landscape Photographers, Fort Collins Coloradan, December 4, 1998
1995
Feature article, Desert Wind, Weekend Plus, Great Falls Tribune, Thursday, January 26, 1995
1994
Wyoming Arts Council annual publications: Governor’s Arts Award Dinner invitation and program, 1994-95 Annual Report, Artspeak conference materials
Newsgram, Mountain-Plains Museum Association of the American Association of Museums, June 1994
All Arts Newsletter, Wyoming Arts Council, June 1994
All Arts Newsletter, Wyoming Arts Council, May 1994; pages 8-9
1993
All Arts Newsletter, Wyoming Arts Council, May 1993
COLLECTIONS
Albertson College of Idaho, Caldwell, ID
Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID
Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, ME
Coe Libraries, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
College of Health Sciences, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
College of Law, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
Health Sciences Art Collection, University of Virginia, VA
Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
Laramie County Community College, Laramie, WY
Pomona College, Claremont, CA
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Searle Pharmaceutical Corporation, Chicago, IL
Trinity College, Hartford, CT
University of Virginia Museum of Art, Charlottesville, VA
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
ARTS ADMINISTRATION AND CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE
2000 – 2017
Director and Chief Curator, University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY
1996 – 2000
Assistant Director and Senior Curator, University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY
1991 – 1996
Curator of Museum Programs, University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY
1986 – 1991
Director, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA
1984 – 1986
Gallery Manager, Edwin W. Zoller Gallery, School of Visual Arts, Penn State University
BOARDS, COMMITTEES, AND PROJECTS
2019
Portfolio Review, Colorado Photographic Arts Center, Denver, CO
2018 –
Neltje Center Steering Committee, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY
2017 –
Jentel Foundation Artist Residency Program, board member, Banner, WY
2013 –
Laramie Public Art Coalition, Steering Team, Laramie, WY
2012 –
UW President’s Public Art Committee, Laramie, WY
2012 – 2014
Biodiversity Institute Faculty Advisory Committee, University of Wyoming
2011 – 2018
Co-administrator, Laramie Mural Project, connecting local artists with local business to advance economic development and beautify Laramie’s historic downtown
2010 –
Founding member, Pipeline Artists Project, ‘pumping art from the energy state of Wyoming, USA,’ www.pipelineartproject.com
2009 – 2014
Reinventing the Geological Museum Advisory Committee, University of Wyoming
2008 –
Co-collaborator, Sequencing Through Time and Place, with artist W. Lemen Bredehoft and dance Margaret Wilson who explore the creative process by working on location: Wyoming, London, Venice
2008 – 2010
Visual Arts Facility Planning Committee, University of Wyoming
2008 – 2009
Long Range Planning Development Advisory Committee, University of Wyoming
2006 –
Co-founder, Touchstone Laramie, an exhibition and sale by the Laramie Artists Project, a consortium of professional artists in Laramie and Albany County, WY
2002 – 2015
Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG, board member, Mountain-Plains representative)
2002 – 2011
Mountain Plains Museum Association (MPMA), board member, AAMG representative