Marty J. Kalb

Bishop Herbert Welch Meritorious Teaching Award (2007)

2006-2007 Commencement Ceremony Excerpt

I am delighted to announce that the winner of the Welch Award for the Year 2007 is professor of fine arts, Marty Kalb.

Marty received his B.A. from Michigan State University, B.F.A. from Yale University, and M.A. from the University of California at Berkeley. Marty is retiring this year after teaching 40 years at Ohio Wesleyan. He has taught courses in painting, drawing, 2-dimensional design, and modem Art History. He has exhibited his own work in more than 150 competitive and invitational exhibitions throughout the United States and abroad. His drawing, paintings and constructions range from modern art to extremely realistic portrayals of the Holocaust based on actual documentary materials and photographs. His works are included in major public collections such as New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, and the National Jewish Museum in Washington among others. Reviews and articles about his work have appeared in numerous publications and he has been the recipient of many grants and awards including the National Academic of Design in NYC and the Ohio Art League.

In the words of his students, Marty Kalb “is a great professor and has a way of instilling a work ethic and a love for making and viewing art. He genuinely loves art, especially the art he teaches in class—he’s always pushing us to create, to be creative, try new techniques, resolve our problems, criticize, not be satisfied with simple answers, but strive for greatness.”

Another student reports that Marty “is a very demanding professor who urges students to go the extra mile but is willing to walk with us each step of the way. Marty pushes us not only for artistic growth, but also emotional, intellectual, and individual growth.”

Still another student reports that Marty “is a wonderful mentor with an impressive amount of experience and an abundance of knowledge of his field. He’s the apple of my academic eye. He is awesome. I will miss Marty…as will the rest of us. Truly, little more can be said.”

Marty, congratulations!