Biography
Millie Whipplesmith Plank starts a wood cut with a clear idea of what she want to convey. The medium however, takes her tendency for meticulous detail, chuckles, and pushes the work in a different direction. Forced to simplify and refine the message, her work gains the quality and power which is unique to wood cut printing.
In a hundred year old barn which shelters her studio, she has created a print making oasis, surrounded by animals and open spaces. Her work, influenced by her cattle ranching heritage, explores biodiversity and species interdependency. Combining the rich colors, and simple shapes of traditional wood block prints with expressive line,
she beckons the viewer to explore a different reality.
Currently, she is creating prints for several land conservancy groups including the Southern Oregon Land Conservancy and Point Blue Conservation Sciences.
Whipplesmith Plank’s work is in the permanent collections of the Leigh Yawkey Museum in Wisconsin and the Maryhill Museum of Art in Washington. She is part of the California Printmakers Association, the Society of Animal Artists, Artists for Conservation, and has served as artist in residence at Glacier National Park and Lassen Volcanic National Park.
Special Achievements:
GROUP SHOWS
The Kingdom Midland Center for the Arts Midland MI 2021-2022
Art That Matters to the Planet Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Jamestown, NY 2021
Artists for Conservation, Vancouver BC, Canada 2021
Searching for Meaning, Point Reyes, CA 2021
Stillness, Movement, Chaos Rochester Print Club, Rochester, NY 2021
Printmakers Invitational Dunsmuir, CA 2021
“Yosemite Renaissance 36”, Yosemite Museum 2021
“Birds in Art”, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum 2021, 2020,2017,2015, 2014
“Animal Artists”, Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum in Oradell, NJ 2020
"Art of the West", High Desert Museum, Bend, OR 2021, 2020, 2017
“Art and the Animal”, Briscoe Museum of Western Art 2019
“West Coast Woodcut” Maryhill Museum of Fine Art 2019
“Art and the Animal”, The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art 2018
“Emerald Prints”, Eugene, OR 2018
“Westcoast Prints”, Coos Bay Art Museum 2018
"Avian", Yosemite Area Audubon Society, Oakhurst, CA 2017
“Yosemite Renaissance 32” Yosemite Museum 2017
“The AIR exhibit” , Cultural Center of Cape Cod, South Yarmouth , MA 2017
"Landscape: A Sense of Place”, Site:Brooklyn Gallery. Brooklyn, NY 2016
SOLO SHOWS
“Whipplesmith Prints” Rogue Manor, Medford, OR 2021
“Guarded Spaces”, Hanson Howard Gallery, Ashland, OR 2019
“Ink Stains and Wood Dust”, Siskiyou Art Museum, Dunsmuir, CA 2017
“Impressions”, Liberty Arts Gallery, Yreka, CA 2017
“Impressions of Glacier”, Rogue Valley Cultural Center, Medford,OR 2016
“Featured Print Exhibit”, Merced Multicultural Art center, Merced, CA 2015
“Whipplesmith Prints”, Marble Rim Gallery, Fort Jones, CA 2011
RESIDENCIES
Artist in Residence Lassen Volcanic National Park 2016
Artist in Residence Glacier National Park 2014
JURIED MEMBERSHIP
Artists for Conservation, signature member 2021
Society of Animal Artists, signature member 2017-present
California Printmaker Association 2012-present
Artists for Conservation 2021
COLLECTIONS
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI 2020, 2017
Maryhill Museum of Art 2018
Lassen National Volcanic Park, CA 2017
PUBLICATIONS
“The Art of Angling”, California Fly Fisher, 2020
“Art in the West”, Cascade A&E, 2020
“Round Up”, Modoc & More, 2017
“Artists on the Land”, Land People Magazine, Trust for Public Land, Fall/Winter 2014/2015
AWARDS
Yosemite Renaissance 36”, Yosemite Museum, Third Place 2021
"Art of the West", High Desert Museum, Jurors’s Choice 2020
“Emerald Prints”, Eugene, OR, third place 2018
“Westcoast Prints”, Coos Bay Art Museum, award of excellence 2018
"Avian",Yosemite Area Audubon Society, Best of Show 2017
“California Centered: Printmaking Exhibition”, Best of Show 2014
North Valley Art League’s 29th National Show, award of excellence 2013
Siskiyou Artist Association, Best of Show 2012