To understand the art is to understand the artist and vice versa. Stamats, whose hometown is Cedar Rapids, journey as an artist has led him across the country.

“I’ve always been an artist,” said Stamats. “I went to art school, Pratt Institute in New York City, for undergrad. I lived in New York for five years and was the quintessential starving artist. Then I went back to the Midwest and got my Masters’ of art degree in design from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and then got my Master’s of fine arts degree at the University of Iowa. I taught high school art at a place outside of Pittsburgh called the Kiski School for three years, and I’m currently an adjunct professor.”

Though art has always been important to Stamats, sometimes it takes a backseat for other aspects of life.

“I had young children when I moved back to Cedar Rapids, so for about 10 or 11 years I didn’t make any art,” he said. “I was busy coaching soccer and taking the kids to appointments and that sort of stuff. I started to make art again about 2007, I started to make these assemblage pieces which are made out of found objects in boxes. That got me back into painting, and I’ve been painting ever since. I also had a full time job being executive vice president at Stamats Communication, our family business.”

Bill Stamats

Along with his artwork, Stamats is also a fine art appraiser.

Stamats’ work is very visceral and features deep colors. The mostly acrylic paints help stabilize the color of the work, which allows the images to create this intense depth to the work. The paintings give off a nostalgic feel to them with the imagery as well as the color choices.

The exhibition is called “Two of a Kind” because it features two examples of each different type of Stamats’ work, whether that is in regards to medium or subject matter.

When detailing how the exhibition at the Blanden came about, Stamats said, “We had a family barn that was destroyed by the derecho, so I did a painting of that barn. The painting received a lot of good feedback, so I started doing a series of barn paintings. The paintings are not at an angle, and they are almost like color field paintings except there’s a barn there. I approached Eric Anderson (museum director) about showing these barn paintings at the Blanden and he said great, you have this big area to work with. I had to go back to Eric and tell him I couldn’t fill the area because I had sold so many of my barn paintings. He asked if I had another idea and I pitched him “Two of a Kind.” It would be a retrospective of sorts and feature a lot of my older work. I think for a museum like the Blanden which works to engage and educate the populus of Fort Dodge, it would be really good to see different approaches to different themes in art. That’s what I’m doing with “Two of a Kind.” I’m showing two abstracts, two assemblages, and I am showing two barns. One of the barn paintings is the one of the family barn and the other is titled “Barn Near Corning,” which won first place at the Iowa State Fair this year for colored painting.”

Stamats continued by saying ” There will be a couple of boat paintings, couple of car paintings, couple of bird paintings, there will be a couple that represent horns, some that show insects, and some that show stumps in detail. I view myself as a realistic artist, but not as photorealistic.”

-Submitted photo "She Collected Small Debts"

One of the toughest parts of being an artist is finding the drive and inspiration to keep working. When asked what advice Stamats would give to an upcoming artist, he said ” I think the most important thing is to have a love for art. If you are thinking about art as a way to get rich quick, then that is the wrong way to approach being an artist. I think recognition is the best way to think about being an artist. Of course you will need to sell some work to feed that recognition. Also being an artist isn’t considered by the IRS to be a hobby, so that helped me being able to write off my materials and the travel expenses from going to shows and things like that. I think you just need a love of art and want to pursue it. I also think you can just be an artist in your area, and you don’t have to worry about being in a major city like Chicago or New York. I think it is becoming less important to be in one of those areas, as long as you are involved in an art community. My wife and I have always been involved in the Cedar Rapids art community. My wife ran a gallery called the Black Earth Gallery for seven years.”

Though this is a retrospective of his work, Stamats is far from done with his artistic endeavors as he plans on retiring from his family business and focusing more energy on his art.