Don Swartzentruber
Don Michael Swartzentruber (swärt-zen-trü-ber) is an American artist. His paintings, printmaking and drawing typically appropriate elements of neo-pop and surrealism. The artist, who signs with his surname, is recognized for his juxtaposition of spiritual themes with lowbrow imagery. Not one to dodge provocative topics, he engages viewers with themes that shift from a rather socratic dialogue to dogmatic sermons. Early life Born in 1966, he grew up in Greenwood, Delaware. He studied formally at various programs including character animation with Disney animator Milt Neil at the Kubert School. While earning a MFA in Visual Art at Vermont College of Norwich University he studied with Karl Wirsum (Chicago Imagists), Don Baum, Joseph Seigenthaler, and Ernesto Pujol. Exhibit highlights Swartzentruber was raised in a Mennonite home and community. He briefly attended Rosedale Bible College and then Grace College and Seminary. His religious upbringing facilitated his creation of the controversial art exhibit Pop Mennonite. He is one of the first to appropriate Mennonite culture as a theme in contemporary art. The images manifest from cultural critique and autobiography. An audio project accompanied the exhibits at Bluffton University and Goshen College and included Mennonite music. The harshest disapproval of Pop Mennonite bred from Mennonite