Mel Butor

BORN: 1930 in Cleveland, Ohio

DIED: May 16, 2024 in Madison, WI

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, where he grew up in what today would be considered poverty. Three generations in one house. However, he thought it was a great childhood being free to roam the neighborhood until dark, shooting marbles and playing sand lot baseball. His father was an immigrant from Poland with few skills and little money, but he worked in the steel mills of Cleveland to help produce the steel that built this country. Mel was always immensely proud of his Polish heritage.

After High School, Mel attended the Cleveland Institute of Art and graduated in 1952. 

He also worked summers at the steel mills to pay tuition and  went on to study at Kent State University, Kent, OH with a B.S.E. in 1955.

Mel served his country when drafted into the U.S. Army. While stationed at Camp Rucker, Ala., he encountered racism head on. One day he innocently sat at the rear of a city bus causing the driver to stop the bus and order him to move forward.

He earned his M.A. also at Kent State in 1960.

He joing the faculty at UW-Madison about 1966, and retired around 1998. He was always creative and thoroughly enjoyed teaching, especially undergrads. The last 28 years of his career were at the UW- Madison in the Art Department becoming an Emeritus Professor.

In 1978 he said " My recent work shows my facination and involvement with the rfelcted image. An image that shrinks and expands and can catch the movement of the perceiver". His op/pop art paintings and mixed media creations "Make use of the full range of hues but the images remain linear, parallel, and repetitious."

Mel was represented by numerous galleries including galleries in Washington, D.C., St. Paul, MN, etc. He exhibited widely, and his work is included in numerous private and public collections around the country.