Dennis Pearson

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BORN: November 3, 1939 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Born in Madison and attended Madison West High School, Dennis Pearson later attended Milwaukee's Layton School of Art - now  Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD).

At Layton, Dennis focused on painting and printmaking, winning prizes for painting in the Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors competition. He graduated in 1962, with a degree in Fine Art.

He continued his education at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, supporting himself through paintings. Pearson consistently drew his simple, unusual, fantasy animals.

In 1965, he met Andy Warhol in New York City to whom he described his creatures. Reportedly, Warhol encouraged Pearson to continue his development of the concept.

Pearson soon explored creating 3D sculptures of his creatures in papier-mache. Pearson's brother, owned an auto repair shop with fiberglass capabilities, where the first beasties were created. He covered creations in fiberglass and automotive paint which created a durable, lightweight, and charming animal.

Pearson's large, bold, sculptures quickly captured the public's attentions at locations all around Milwaukee. The pieces vary in size to 16' and appropriately fill public spaces such as playgrounds, malls, libraries, corporations, and children’s museums.

He frequented Milwaukee Art Museum's Lakefront Festival of the Arts offering pieces in pen & ink, watercolor, oil paintings, stained glass, and jewelry. His work, is in collections worldwide.  

Photo credit: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Oct. 22, 1991 via Wisconsin Historical Society.