Gift of Willem Volkersz, 2021. Additional materials (exhibit catalog and textile) were received in February 2022. In 2023 a binder of newspaper clippings and an oral history done with Willem by the Booth Western Art Museum (audiocassette titled "conversation with H.H. about drawings") were added. In July 2024 a small selection of announcements for "The View from Here" was added.
Willem Volkersz is a mixed-media artist and art collector. He was born in 1939 in the Netherlands to Everhardus Gerard Volkersz and Elisabeth Volkersz-Merens. His family immigrated to the United States in 1953, when he was 14. He received his Bachelor of Arts from The University of Washington in 1965 and his Master of Fine Arts from Mills College in California in 1967.
Volkersz is most known for his work in neon sculptures and paint-by-numbers style painting, often incorporating multiple techniques, and occasionally found objects, into his pieces. His works have been featured in the Emerson Cultural Center (Bozeman, Montana), Museum of the Rockies (Bozeman, Montana), Yellowstone Art Museum (Billings, Montana), Missoula Art Museum (Missoula, Montana), Holter Museum of Art (Helena, Montana), Museum of Neon Art (Glendale, California), Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art (Great Falls, Montana), Plains Art Museum (Fargo, North Dekota), Museum of Northwest Art (La Conner, Washington), Coconino Center for the Arts (Flagstaff, Arizona), Reed Whipple Cultural Center (Las Vegas, Nevada), Francine Seders Gallery (Seattle, Washington), Leeds Polytechnic (Leeds, England), and others.
Volkersz was the Director of the School of Art at Montana State University (MSU) from 1986 until his retirement in 2001, when he was granted the status of Emeritus Professor. During his time as director his works were exhibited in galleries on campus and in faculty art magazines. Prior to teaching at MSU he taught at The Ohio State University (1967-1968), Leeds College of Art, Leeds, England (1972-1973), and Kansas City Art Institute (1968-1986).
He has received the Montana Governor's Arts Award in 2020, the James and Mary Ross Provost's Award for Excellence (Montana State University) in 1999, the Charles and Nora L. Wiley Research Award for Meritorious Research and Creativity (Montana State University) in 1998, and the Anna K. Fridley Phi Kappa Phi Distinguished Teaching Award (Montana State University) in 1996.
Volkersz has also been an avid collector of folk art and the works of self-taught artists. In 1986 he donated a collection of audio cassettes of folk artist interviews to the Archives of American Art (Washington, D.C.). His collection of folk, outsider, and self-taught art now resides at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, Wisconsin), The Missoula Art Musem (Missoula, Montana), and the Hallie Ford Museum of Art (Salem, Oregon).
He lives in Bozeman, Montana, with his wife Diane Volkersz.
The collection is largely in the arrangement that Volkersz created. However, the Annual Review documents were arranged chronologically, and in the Works and Reviews series, publications of the same name were grouped together to enhance discoverability. The Gallery Cards and Personal Correspondence were transferred as close as possible to the original order, but oversized items were relocated to the "Oversized Exhibition Announcements" folder. In cases where Personally Identifiable Information (PII) was discovered, items were scanned with PII redacted and replaced with the print out of the scaned document.
The Willem Volkersz papers consist of materials relating to his work as a professor at Montana State University and his work as an artist. His teaching materials include his annual reviews, tenure review documentation, and his sabbatical work and documentation. His work as an artist is represented through gallery and auction announcements, publications of his exhibitions, video and audio interviews with him, professional correspondence, and sketches of his work. In addition to his teaching and artistic work, his collections of postcards, gallery cards, and correspondence cards are also included.
The Annual Review documents originally included the individual scantron student reviews. Most of the information from these documents was also included in a summary page. These scantron documents were removed from the collection and only the summary documents were retained. Additionally, any items that included FERPA protected information were removed. Duplicate materials were also removed. Lastly, among the books that were donated as part of the collection,
This collection is open for research.
[Creator Name], [Date of Creation], [Brief Description of Object], Folder [#], Box [#], [Collection Name], [Collection #], Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT
This series includes materials related to Willem Volkersz' teaching career. Included in this series are materials from the University of Washington, and Kansas City Art Institute, as well as annual reviews, sabbatical reports, and tenure review materials from Montana State University.
The personal files and correspondence in this series are research files, contracts, and correspondence files between Willem Volkersz and galleries, museums, universities, professional organizations, and individuals regarding his work as an artist and as a professor. Additionally, some files cover the planning and description of some of his exhibitions.
This series includes materials representing Willem Volkersz' work as an artist. The series includes books that include Volkersz' work, exhibition catalogues for exhibitions Volkersz produced or participated in, auction catalogues that include Volkersz' work, magazine articles that showcase Volkersz, interviews with Volkersz, and sketches and posters produced by Volkersz.
Item removed from frame.
This series includes exhibition cards, gallery announcement cards, greeting cards and other ephemera collected by Willem Volkersz over the years. The exhibition cards and gallery announcements are from galleries across the United States and around the world, both for exhibitions that Volkersz participated in, and ones that he did not participate in. The items have been kept roughly in the order they were received. Correspondence in the form of greeting cards, postcards and short letters are intermingled with the exhibition cards just as they were when they were donated.
Archive of Willem Volkersz' website. Web archives are updated regularly so long as the site is live.