Embedded, not isolated.
A full-time, Des Moines–based artist partnering with brand, business, curatorial, development, and hospitality teams. A creative complement to existing professionals and independently commissioned artists.
AN ORIGINAL PROPOSAL FOR KRAUSE GROUP / 2026
One dedicated artist.
Extraordinary businesses.
Work with a life beyond the wall.
FINE ART × BRAND STRATEGY × LONG-TERM VALUESCROLL TO DISCOVER
01 / THE PERSPECTIVEAN IDEA WORTH CONSIDERING
Some things create value.
Others give it meaning.
Krause Group already understands the place of art in business.
Its family art gallery engages contemporary voices. Vietti’s artist labels have brought art and wine together for decades. Casa di Langa has introduced an artist experience rooted in its region.
The opportunity I see is complementary: a dedicated creator developing original artwork from within the portfolio—work conceived with an understanding of the businesses, made for the places they shape, and available to serve multiple purposes over time.
Not a proposal to change an established collection. An invitation to add a different kind of creative capability.
ALREADY A STRENGTH
Art collected.
Curatorial vision, thoughtful acquisitions, exhibitions, and relationships with artists around the world.
A COMPLEMENTARY CAPABILITY
Art created.
Original commissions born from the people, properties, histories, and experiences within Krause Group itself.
02 / THE OPPORTUNITYA PORTFOLIO OF HUMAN STORIES
SPORT. WINE. REAL ESTATE.
Three worlds.
One common thread.
The most compelling part of each business is human: the supporters who give sport its energy, the hands that make exceptional wine, the neighbors and makers who bring places to life.
A full-time corporate artist could give those stories an enduring physical presence—and create new ways for each business to share them.
01 / SPORTBelonging
02 / WINE & HOSPITALITYCraft
03 / REAL ESTATEPlace
03 / THE WORKFOUR POSSIBLE COMMISSION FAMILIES
Art with a
reason to exist.
Each concept starts with a real business application. Each can produce a meaningful original—and a thoughtful set of uses beyond it. Select a direction to explore.
SELECT A WORKING DIRECTION
01 / 04AN ONGOING PORTRAIT COLLECTION
The people behind it
An evolving collection honoring the growers, makers, employees, supporters, and neighbors who give each business its character. Individual portraits become a collective record of the people who matter.
BUSINESS APPLICATION
Permanent displays · internal culture · publications · commemorative editions
Visual reference: previously completed Hall of Fame portraits by Clint Hansen, not a proposed Krause commission.
These are strategic commission directions, not finalized designs. All projects would be developed with the appropriate business, brand, curatorial, community, and facilities stakeholders. Portfolio examples are identified as prior work.
THE PRINCIPLEOne original.
One original.
Many lives.
The artwork is the beginning, not the entire return.
A portrait can belong in a gallery, appear in a publication, anchor an employee story, and become a small commemorative edition. A site-specific work can shape a public place and establish its visual identity. Each use is planned with purpose and appropriate rights.
Detail at left: completed John Deere Financial mosaic by Clint Hansen.
04 / THE MODELCREATIVE AMBITION. BUSINESS DISCIPLINE.
A working artist.
A working model.
The case for an employee is not simply making art more often. It is continuity: an artist who understands the portfolio over time, works across disciplines, and builds a body of original work the organization can use responsibly.
Commissioned with purpose.
Every project begins with a brief: audience, objective, intended setting, art direction, stewardship, approvals, practical uses, and agreed measures of success.
Planned and accountable.
Annual priorities. Quarterly reviews. Transparent project budgets. Clear ownership and reproduction rights. Major fabrication and site installation costed and approved separately.
THE DISTINCTION
Why employ an artist when you can commission one?
Independent commissions bring fresh perspectives and should remain part of the art program. An embedded artist adds something different: sustained knowledge of the portfolio, work developed in response to changing needs, and stewardship of a connected body of original assets. The question is not either/or. It is whether the ongoing creative work across the businesses justifies a dedicated maker.
01 / UTILIZATIONPut the work to use.
Approved installations, experiences, publications, and reused artwork.
02 / ENGAGEMENTSee who it reaches.
Participation, meaningful response, and appropriate brand or community signals.
03 / STEWARDSHIPProtect the investment.
Budget adherence, rights, documentation, fabrication, and long-term care.
THE FIRST TWELVE MONTHSA real plan from day one.
01Discover
& prioritize
& prioritize
02Design
& approve
& approve
03Create
& activate
& activate
04Review
& build on it
& build on it
The intention is a permanent role, evaluated through the same standards of quality, collaboration, budget discipline, and usefulness applied to other long-term investments—not a promise of speculative financial returns.
05 / SELECTED WORKPROVEN CRAFT AT ARCHITECTURAL SCALE
The idea is new.
The experience is not.
Decades of original work across architecture, museums, corporate environments, and commissioned illustration. A selection from completed projects.
Fine art, public installations, museum environments, illustration, brand systems. The medium changes. The responsibility to the story does not.
More about the work
06 / THE INVITATION
Let's make
Let's make
art work.
Krause Group has built a portfolio of distinctive businesses and an established commitment to art. I would welcome a conversation about what a dedicated, working artist could create across that portfolio—beautifully, usefully, and for the long term.