Walter Piehl is an artist, a North Dakotan, a cowboy, a nice guy.

He was raised in Marion, a little town in southeastern North Dakota, and taught at universities in Mayville and Valley City before joining the Minot State University faculty in 1970.

The Plains Art Museum in Fargo, in recognition of his status as one of North Dakota's most important artists, is organizing a career survey for an exhibition that will run from August 7 to October 26.

Two of four Piehl originals in the NDSU collection will be on loan to the Plains: "Crow Hop Annie for the Bison," (1990) from the Roping Fools Series, and "Saddle Bronco #1" (1970).

Piehl is most well known for his "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" series, about which he says: "My aim is to represent these themes in a contemporary painterly manner, while minimizing romance and sentiment that so often dominates Western Americana subjects. I like paradox, contradiction, color, things cowboy, and putting on paint — but not necessarily in that order."

The NDSU Gallery has several of Piehl's works available in fine print and poster format. For more information call 701-231-8239.