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EARL F. POTVIN

 

 

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Earl F. Potvin (1923 - 2014)

 

Earl “Buddy” Potvin, was born in Minneapolis.  He attended Minneapolis West High School and shortly after served in World War II.  Upon returning from the service, he earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and a Master’s of fine arts from Cranbrook Academy of the Arts.

 

Buddy was an art faculty member at the University of Minnesota, and at College of St. Teresa in Winona.  He also taught with his wife on the Ganado Indian reservation in Arizona in the early 1980s.

 

Buddy was a prolific artist who lived a passionate life.  He spent most of his life walking; around cities, along the train tracks from Winona to Minneapolis, to visit his parents, from Lake Michigan to the O’Hare airport by following the planes overhead, and in his later years, around Lake Winona with his Posy.  He canoed from the Iron Range to Hudson Bay twice.  Buddy sold his paintings door to door along Summit Avenue in St. Paul during the 1950s.  His paintings can be found in many homes and many museums, including the Walker Art Museum, the Weisman Art Museum, and The Minnesota Institute of Art.

 

He had gallery shows across the U.S., and in his later years he transitioned to writing and illustrating books of poetry.  He loved brilliant colors and his wife.

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