DENNIS J PROKSA    

EXPERIENCE
1977 to Present   Blackrock Forge INC;  Shop owner, Pocatello, ID
2006        Boondoggle with Russell Jaqua, collaborative sculpture “For Willene”; Pt. Townsend, WA
1995-’96   Vesuvius; gallery owner, Pocatello, ID
1988-’89   Ironage Artworks; collaborative forge work with artists Steve Weiss and Russell Jaqua, Toowoomba, QLD      Australia
1975-’81   Certified Pipe and Tube weldor for industrial contractors at power plants and oil refineries
1983-’85   Idaho State University; Vo-Tech instructor-pipe welding, Pocatello

PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
Boise, ID: Whittier School "Artful Boundary-Drawing Lessons Building Connections"
                “Litharacnium”
                "Les Bois”
                 Boise Art Museum, Restoration of historic ironwork
Pocatello, ID: “Hobos”
                “Prehistory Rail”
                “Gun Buyback”
                “Bison Latifrons”

EXHIBITS, AWARDS, GRANTS, PROJECTS
2014      Enso Gallery, Boise
              Houston Center For Contemporary Craft; Iron: Forged, Tempered, Quenched Exhibit
2010, '97    Boise Art Museum Triennial            
2001      ISU Davis Gallery, Pocatello
              Tacoma Art Museum
1998      Prichard Gallery, Moscow, ID
'93, '94, '95    International Contemporary Furniture Fair, NY
1993      Lord & Taylor, 5th Avenue NY
              Stewart Gallery, Boise
'90, '93  Sudden Opportunity Assistance grants, Idaho Commission on the Arts

PRESS
2009   “Art & Soul” Public Radio stories sponsored by the NEA and Idaho Commission on the Arts
1991    The Contemporary Idaho Artist, Cort Conley, Hemingway Western Studies Center
1979    American Craft Magazine, “Forging On”

EDUCATION
1990   Historical Ironwork of Prague, Czechoslovakia; study with artist and master craftsman Vaclav Jaros
1978   SIU-Carbondale, National Endowment for the Arts funded study, with 6 master metal smiths
1975   Jackson Welding School, St Louis MO; certified ASME Code Section 9
1971    BFA Southern Illinois University-Carbondale

TRAVEL
Alaska, Austria, Australia, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Jamaica, Nepal, Romania, Slovakia, Italy