Tom Dietrich

(1912, Appleton, WI - 1998 Appleton, WI)

Tom Dietrich was born in 1912 in Appleton, WI. He studied art at the University of Wisconsin Experimental College (1929 – 31), Cincinnati Art Academy (1931 – 1932), The Minneapolis School of Art (1936), Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation in New York, and a summer school in Saugatuck, Michigan.

In 1941, Dietrich married his wife, Margaret, a fellow artist. That same year, he was commissioned to paint a mural of Manhattan and the New York Harbor in the main lounge of President Van Buren’s ship (later bombed in WWII).

Starting in 1944, Dietrich began teaching at Lawrence University in Appleton and later became an artist in residence there for thirty years. In 1952, the artist became one of the founding members of the Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors organization.

Eight years later, Dietrich traveled to Europe to research a mural depicting Martin Luther for the Reformation for the Aid Association for Lutherans.

In 1971-2, he