Keith Achepohl was a prolific artist to say the least. His vast series of prints, intaglios, watercolors and paintings spanned his over 60-year career as a professional artist. He took inspiration from flora and fauna, places, mankind and architecture. He had many opportunities to travel extensively, arriving home with explosive ideas about his next collection of art not yet captured. Those close to Keith would watch his creativity unfold, seeing his travels explained on paper and canvas. This was his way of sharing his trips to wonderful places with the world, his friends and his family. In his later years his art focused more on flora and fauna. He loved to capture the beauty of nature in watercolor and pencil in the most unique ways. A branch, a pond lily, or even a piece of moss was transformed into a completely different perspective allowing us to see it through his eyes.

As an artist, Keith was dynamic, experimental, and prolific, yet also mindful, patient, and steady. His passion for art and for his students was revealed through his teachings. With the generous Fulbright and National Endowment for the Arts grants he travelled extensively with each trip resulting in new artwork added to the repertoire of collections.

Keith’s illustrious career speaks for itself. He received a B.A. from Knox College (1956), an M.F.A. degree from the University of Iowa (1960), and honorary doctorates from Pacific Lutheran University (1989) and Knox College (1996), and served as head of printmaking at the School of Art at the University of Iowa and the director of the University of Iowa Summer in Venice. Among his numerous awards and recognitions were Fulbright grants in Egypt (1977) and Turkey (1984) and a National Endowment for the Arts grant (1994). He exhibited extensively nationally and internationally and his works are held in the permanent collections of many of the most prestigious museums in the United States and around the world.

He was awarded the Tiffany Foundation Award in 1966; the Fulbright Senior Lectureship Award in 1979, 1980, and 1984; the Gold Medal in Printmaking at the Mediterranean Biennale in Egypt in 1982; and the Edmondson Award from the Des Moines Art Center in 1990.

Keith’s art is included in museums around the world, including the Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; the Philadelphia Art Museum, Pennsylvania; Seattle Art Museum, Washington; the Bibliotheca Nacional, Madrid; and the Kobe Art Museum, Kobe, Japan.

The last 10 years of Keith’s professional career were spent in Oregon, near his children, where he served on the Acquisitions Committee at the Jordon Schnitzer Museum of Art, continuing to create incredible watercolors, copper etchings and paintings on canvas until his passing in 2018.