Our Mentor: Paul Yank

Master artist Paul Yank mentored and inspired a generation of artists from his studio at the Ozaukee Art Center in Cedarburg. He was born in Milwaukee in 1931, and graduated from the Layton School of Art where he majored in fine arts as a sculptor, later earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 

While serving in the United States Marine Corps, Paul lived in Kyoto, Japan, and eagerly absorbed the Japanese culture while studying bridge engineering, an experience that is reflected in his intricate sculptures and fine art prints. As a young artist, Paul worked with the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright at Wright’s home and studio, Taliesin, in Spring Green, Wisconsin, before starting a career that saw him master many artistic mediums.

After a nationwide competition in 1958, he was selected sculptor-in-residence for what today is the Milwaukee Public Museum. During his eight years on the museum’s staff, he studied cultural anthropology and designed three-dimensional displays and cycloramas.

Paul moved his family, wife Marian and their four children, to Cedarburg in 1966 where he founded the Ozaukee Art Center, currently housed in the 1846 building that was formerly the Weber Brewing Company. At the Center, he helped establish the city as a mecca for artists, which it remains today.

When the Center closed in 2020 during the recent pandemic, Paul was sharing his skills with a cadre of studio artists who are continuing his method and techniques of printmaking. On October 1st of 2020, he passed away at the age of 89.

Paul’s daughter, Karen Yank, is a nationally known sculptor living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has completed commissions for over 50 large-scale public sculptures and, with husband and printmaker Rodney Hamon, is in the process of making the Center a regional and national resource for artists.