O.V. “Verne” Shaffer

One of Princeton’s most respected artists, O.V. “Verne” Shaffer, has been nominated and chosen to receive the Prairie Arts Council’s Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award for 2014. This award was created five years ago by the PAC board of directors to recognize and honor special people in our community who have made important contributions to the arts.

Born and raised in Princeton, Verne began his study of art in 1946 at Beloit College where he earned a bachelor’s degree. Later he earned a master’s degree at Michigan State University. Verne’s career evolved from painter to educator. Starting as assistant professor of art at Olivet College in Olivet, Michigan, he then was hired in 1955 by Beloit College as a professor of art. He later obtained the position of director of the Wright Art Center at Beloit College. In 1959 he traveled to Maine where he assisted Clark FitzGerald with the construction of three large-scale sculptures. This influenced his decision to give up his teaching position to embark on a solo art career as a sculptor.

For many years, Shaffer sculpted in his rural studio in Wisconsin before moving back to Princeton. Most of his works are made from metal, either welded or cast. He has also worked in wood and cast concrete, including a concrete mural sculpture for the face of the UWM Union. With an estimated 1,200 pieces to his credit, Shaffer has exhibited throughout the Midwest and has major commissions in Maine, Florida and Utah, as well as Wisconsin and Illinois. He won the Wisconsin Governor’s Award in the Arts in 1970. He has had countless exhibitions from 1956 on up through 2013. His name appears in numerous publications, including the 1999 edition of Who’s Who in American Art, and Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors published by the West Bend Art Museum in 2000.

In 2012 Shaffer gifted a collection of his own sculptures and drawings to Kohler Foundation, where preservation technicians have carefully catalogued, photographed and cleaned the collection. The artwork is now at home at the University of Wisconsin. Among the many websites credited with the name O.V. (Verne) Shaffer, The Kohler Foundation Inc. features a web page where Shaffer’s work can now be viewed on the internet.

Please join us in honoring O.V. (Verne) Shaffer for his Lifetime Achievement in the Arts.