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Roger L. Bansemer

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki






Roger L. Bansemer
Photo of artist Roger Bansemer with one of his Florida landscape paintingsPortrait of artist Roger Bansemer.jpg Portrait of artist Roger Bansemer.jpg
BornRoger Lewis Bansemer
(1948-07-25)July 25, 1948
Brockton, Massachusetts, U.S.
🏳️ NationalityAmerican
🎓 Alma materRingling College of Art and Design
💼 Occupation
Known forPainting, instruction, murals, book author, television host
🌐 Websitebansemer.com

Search Roger Bansemer on Amazon.

Roger Lewis Bansemer (born July 25, 1948) is an American painter, art instructor and television host. With his wife, Sarah, he is the co-creator and co-host of Painting and Travel with Roger and Sarah Bansemer, an instructional television program that airs on PBS and Create TV in the United States. In 2000 Roger Bansemer was the 112th person to visit the Titanic and the first artist to render drawings of the experience and in 2005 the first artist to paint at depth at the resting place of the Titanic.[1][2][note 1]

Bansemer grew up in Clearwater, FL, and later attended the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota. While in college, Bansemer worked as a sign painter.[3]

As a painter, Bansemer is best known for his figurative works of landscapes, shorebirds, wildlife, beachscapes, and nautical themes, but he has also produced abstract paintings.[4] Additionally, Bansemer has illustrated and published eight non-fiction books and has logged more than 700 hours as a hot air balloonist.

Career[edit]

They told me that if I really wanted to be a good artist I would have to do nothing but paint and try to change my style.

– Roger Bansemer[5]

A foreshadowing of Roger Bansemer's career came in 1965 while he was still a student at Largo High School. Bansemer won the Florida statewide career award competition from the Clearwater chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters.[6]

Abstracts[edit]

Around the age of 26, Roger Bansemer hit a turning point in his life[5] subsequent to the deaths of his friend Doug Foltz (sculptor) in January, 1974;[7] and then of his father Lewis Burnham Bansemer on October 10th, 1974.[8] Separate accidents that coincidentally occurred in the same location. Both his friend and father offered encouragement as Roger recounted, "They told me that if I really wanted to be a good artist I would have to do nothing but paint and try to change my style". This served as a catalyst which launched Bansemer into a change of style, namely abstract painting. The paintings, which Bansemer called Microcosms, are described by Bansemer and perceived by others as radiating an inner light.[5] These paintings were spiritually inspired and Bansemer gave a lecture relating the effect of the Baháʼí Faith on his abstracts.[9]

Recognition[edit]

In 1977 at the age of 29 Bansemer was "commanding praise in international art circles" and his work was included in the collections of Dr. Robert Hayden, poetry adviser to the Library of Congress, Stephen Buczinski, United States Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C., Amoz Gibson, Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel; Restaurant La Broche in Majorca, Spain, Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan; Sperry Rand Corp. in St. Petersburg, Florida and New York City and a variety of Florida art centers and businesses. As described in Newsday Sept. 30, 1977, "... the total abstractions have a drive within them, almost explosive at times but always under control."; and in the New York Times as "full of emotional release but tempered by values which give coherence to both style and imagery."[10][11][12] In October of 1977 the city of Clearwater, Florida started a new marketing campaign to "put Clearwater on the map" which included creating a new artist-in-residence program and offered the position to Bansemer who accepted.[11] This in turn lead to the first in a long series of iconic and landmark mural paintings that Bansemer painted in the Tampa Bay area as well as internationally in places such as Sydney, Australia.[13][note 2]

Hot Air Balloons[edit]

Balloonist friends Roger Bansemer and Malcolm Forbes at Château de Balleroy in Normandy, France

Hot air balloons also lifted Bansemer's career. As early as 1978 Roger was piloting hot air balloons and participating in races like the Helen to Atlantic Balloon Race in Helen, Georgia.[14] He was swept away with hot air ballooning after a barter of a painting in exchange for a five minute up-and-down balloon ride at the Clearwater Mall.[15] Roger said "Flying balloons represents freedom to me".[16] While he was painting his first work as artist-in-residence, the round abstract mural One Spirit, he was approached by Clearwater Beach Spy-Glass hotel owner Gilbert Lindgren. Knowing Bansemer was a balloon enthusiast, Lindgren requested an eight-story mural of a hot air balloon. That mural literally became a landmark overnight and by far his most viewed and well known mural, lasting 30 years — until the destruction of the building in 2008. Despite community praise, Bansemer did not consider it artistic, and his peers thought it might deflate his rising career and reputation as an abstract artist.[17][18] Over the next five years Bansemer grew his talents in multiple directions and attained critical attention on Madison Avenue, in Boston, and in D.C.[19] A 1983 article following a showing remarked "The exhibition reminds us that Bansemer's facile hand apparently can do anything he wishes in any style and several media — realistic etchings, clay sculpture and pottery or dynamic abstractions in paint ... the artist, an avid balloonist, abandoned his usual modes in favor of a fanciful, magical realism. The 68-by-49-inch canvas, Freeflight and Fantasy, was purchased immediately."[20][21]

Author[edit]

Adding to his talents Roger Bansemer became an author, writer, and publisher of his own books. Around 1983 Bansemer offered his home studio to become a place of weekly respit and social activity for fellow artists. Bansemer, Bill Renc, Bede Angle and Rolf Holmquist were the original cohort. "In a way, this group has changed my whole life. It's the reason I started doing books. Bill (Renc) made the suggestion one night."[22] Authoring books appealed in its capacity to share: "(With) the book, I'm left with a painting that can still go in a lobby or a home or whatever, but I've got thousands and thousands of images out there for other people to see, and boy, that's a nice feeling." said Roger. His first book was The Art of Hot-Air Ballooning with a foreword by his friend James Rosenquist. The book was featured on the NBC Today Show and it sparked a friendship with fellow balloon enthusiast Malcolm Forbes who also wrote a review in his magazine. The start to writing books marks the point that Bansemer left the abstract arena and returned to representational art.[15][23][2]

Television[edit]

Main article: Painting and Travel with Roger and Sarah Bansemer

Roger Bansemer has a documented history of advocacy for and reaching out to fellow artists through mass media. In 1986 classical radio station WXCR-FM 92.1 in Safety Harbor, Florida gave Roger Bansemer a regular 45-minute weekly radio show in which he volunteered his time advocating for the arts and artists.[24] Recognized as one of the most prominent and generous artists in the region he used this platform for making positive change for artists in the community.[25] In the spring of 1988 Bansemer and his friend Bill Renc started the Professional Association of Visual Artists (PAVA) "... to serve as a voice for the professional visual artist; to create opportunities for the professional visual artist; and to develop and encourage professional standards in the visual arts."[26] Bansemer has made a regular habit of donating, volunteering, lecturing, and giving back to the community over the course of his career.[note 3] In 2011 Roger Bansemer, together with wife Sarah Bansemer, created what is to date his pinnacle venue for reaching other artists, an educational painting show they produced called Painting and Travel with Roger and Sarah Bansemer that ran for 10 seasons, 130 episodes, and is broadcast on 176 PBS TV stations.[3]

Books[edit]

Non-Fiction

Juvenile

Friendship with James A. Michener[edit]

James A. Michener and Roger Bansemer on their 1993 adventure in the Great Smoky Mountains

Roger Bansemer and James A. Michener became friends after James received a copy of Roger's book Southern Shores as a gift. James wrote a letter to Roger and asked if they could meet and that he was using Roger's book as a reference for a book he was writing. After meeting, the two became fast friends and their friendship lasted until the very end of Michener's life with Roger holding his hand as he passed in and out of consciousness.[27][28] Michener wrote the foreward to Bansemer's 1993 book, Mountains in the Mist. Early that year Michener wrote a letter from the University of Texas at Austin detailing preparations made for Bansemer's arrival and the ensuing interview by Michener in front of his students, serving as an example of a "gifted free-lance" author.[29] Bansemer and Michener had kindled a unique friendship amongst writers — documented in an account by Sterling Watson in the Michigan Quarterly Review: "... The last time I saw James Michener, he was leaving our final class to drive to North Carolina with a writer named Roger Bansemer. Bansemer, an artist and balloonist, as well as a writer, was planning a book, Mountains in the Mist, about the people and landscape of the Great Smoky Mountains ... it seemed right to me that he [Michener] had met someone with whom he shared an enthusiasm, and the two were dashing off in the middle of the night in pursuit of that thing"[30] What transpired is Roger had asked James if he would write the foreword for his book and Michener's response was "You know, Roger, I've been thinking about that foreword. To do it right, you and I need to go up to the Smokies together. If you drive, I'll pay for the gas". They listened to music and camped along the way; and after returning, Bansemer helped him teach a writing class at Eckerd College and then the workshop in Austin.[28]

Titanic Expeditions[edit]

Titanic Expedition 2000[edit]

Roger Bansemer with Mir 1 pilots Anatoly Sagalevich and Ralph Bradshaw White

Chief operating officer for "Titanic Expedition 2000", G. Michael Harris, a director of RMS Titanic, Inc., lead the largest expedition to date on the wreck of the Titanic. The expedition recovered more than 1,800 artifacts which are on display at Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition in Orlando, Florida, the largest Titanic exhibition in the world.[31]. While preparing for the expedition, Harris "... wanted a fresh perspective on the tragedy." In this search to capture a new perspective, a friend introduced him to Roger Bansemer. Bansemer accepted the invitation and in August of 2000 he embarked on the journey to the tragic location in the North Atlantic where the Russian research vessel Keldysh was located. On August 18th the Mir 1 submersible aboard the Keldysh carried Bansemer on a 12 hour dive to view the RMS Titanic in person, making Roger Bansemer the 112th person to see the Titanic since it sank. The submersible pilots were Anatoly Sagalevich, creator of the Mir submersibles, and Ralph Bradshaw White, an award-winning cinematographer who worked as a cameraman on James Cameron's Titanic film. Bansemer's role was to capture an everlasting experience. This role was not entirely unfamiliar to Bansemer. During the Vietnam War Bansemer had served in the U.S. Navy, traveling abroad to 22 European and Middle Eastern countries with a duty of creating artistic illustrations of the places and cultures for service-oriented publications.[12] Bansemer found the journey to the Titanic a penetrating experience, recounting "For two weeks, I couldn't talk to my closest friends about this trip. It was just too much. For weeks, I dreamed about it and relived it so many times." Having taken over 2,000 photos for reference, by January of 2001 he had begun generating paintings, giving free talks to the public, and the process of creating his book Journey to Titanic. Harris said of his choice for a new perspective that Bansemer didn't disappoint him.[32][33] Bansemer's perspective keyed on the very emotional personal tragedy.[2]

Bansemer completed the book Journey to Titanic in 2003. James Cameron wrote the foreword for the book, saying "All the usual suspects are accurately represented; Anatoly Sagalevich, the creator of the submersibles and the driving force behind the Russian deep submergence program; Genya Chenayev, sub pilot extraordinaire; Ralph White, the adventurer who’s seen and done it all; and all the others aboard who labor and sacrifice to keep the dream of deep ocean exploration alive. Roger's images and words will allow the reader to feel as if they have been on the voyage themselves, spent time with these people, and made the ultimate deep dive, to the grave of the great liner herself. No one who sees the wreck of Titanic leaves that place unchanged, and this book conveys that experience beautifully."[34]

The Harris Expedition 2005[edit]

Roger Bansemer (2005) painting inside the Mir 2 submersible at the bow of Titanic

In 2005 Roger Bansemer once again embarked on an expedition to RMS Titanic. For this article, establishing the purpose, goals, and outcomes of the expedition involves analyzing YouTube videos, websites, and a degree of interpolation since the details are not found abundantly in periodicals like the 2000 expedition. Part of the expedition is well documented in the form of a 1 hour and 14 minute video, published by Bansemer with a title the same as his book, Journey to Titanic, available to watch for free on YouTube. Parts of this footage were used in television episode 116 "Journey to Titanic" of Painting and Travel with Roger and Sarah Bansemer. YouTube video Launch of The Mirs appears on G. Michael Harris's YouTube channel. The video bears an opening title Titanic - The Harris Expedition 2005 which credits "video by Roger Bansemer". That video features Sebastian Harris, age 13, son of G. Michael Harris who on that day, August 4, 2005, became the world's youngest person to dive to the Titanic and was hence entered into the Guinness Book of World Records. Father and son were then in 2006 featured on television show Good Morning America to discuss the dive. The more robust video Journey to Titanic identifies that on August 6th, 2005 Bansemer went aboard Mir 2 and around the 17 minute mark Bansemer starts narrating to the camera a comparison between the 2000 and 2005 expeditions. At the 29:12 minute mark Bansemer describes two of his goals, "I've worked in some small studios but this is definitely the smallest studio I've ever worked in; the most exciting too. I can't believe I'm down here on the Titanic, working on some paintings. It's unbelievable. I also want to have enough time so we can see everything down here. Right now this is something I want to accomplish."

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Bansemer, Roger (2005). Journey to Titanic (Video).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Steele, Kathy (2004-01-05). "Art of Adventure". Tampa Tribune. p. 22. Retrieved 2021-06-26 – via Newspapers.com. He was the 112th person to view the ship in its watery grave and the first artist to render drawings of his experience.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Emelia, Hitchner (16 June 2016). "Florida immortalized by Roger Bansemer's paintbrush". The St. Augustine Record. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  4. ↑ "Roger Bansemer". Florida Authors. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cosdon, Christina (1976-04-22). "Artist's goal: Paintings radiate an inner light". St.Petersburg Times. p. 62. Retrieved 2021-05-30 – via Newspapers.com. He illustrated publications for the U.S. Navy during a stint in the service and later traveled alone through 22 countries in Europe and explored the Middle East.
  6. ↑ Cosdon, Christina (1980-09-27). "Society Anniversary Celebration this Month". St.Petersburg Times. p. 31. Retrieved 2021-06-27 – via Newspapers.com. One of the honored guests will be Clearwater artist Roger Bansemer, who won the chapter's statewide career award competition 15 years ago while still a student at Largo High School.
  7. ↑ Stublen, Nash (1975-12-05). "Steel Sculpture Put Up At College". St.Petersburg Times. p. 66. Retrieved 2021-06-21 – via Newspapers.com. Foltz had completed the commissioned work shortly before an automobile accident took his life in January, 1974.'
  8. ↑ Pinellas Times Bureau (1974-10-11). "Motorcyclist dies after crash with car". St.Petersburg Times. p. 33. Retrieved 2021-05-30 – via Newspapers.com. Lewis B. Bansemer, 60, 2124 McKinley St., was fatally injured Thursday morning in a car-motorcycle collision at Highland Avenue and Cleveland Street ...'
  9. ↑ Kirby, Jan (1978-02-24). "North Pinellas Churches Busy During Winter". St.Petersburg Times. p. 42. Retrieved 2021-06-27 – via Newspapers.com. He will discuss the effects of Baha'i Faith religion on his abstact paintings.
  10. ↑ "Art". New York Times. 1977-09-11. p. 433. Retrieved 2021-06-21 – via ProQuest.com. Oil paintings by Roger L. Bansemer
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Smith, David (1977-10-07). "Clearwater painter named artist-in-residence". St.Petersburg Times. p. 21. Retrieved 2021-05-26 – via Newspapers.com. Bansemer, 29, was selected by a committee formed to implement the new artist-in-residence program that Commissioner William Nunamaker conceived earlier this year as a way 'to put Clearwater on the map.'
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Cosdon, Christina (1979-06-10). "Abstract paintings by Bansemer are shown in Dunedin". St.Petersburg Times. p. 44. Retrieved 2021-05-26 – via Newspapers.com. His work is included in the collections of Dr. Robert Hayden ...
  13. ↑ Cosdon, Christina (1982-04-12). "Bansemer paints a mural 10 stories up in Australia". St.Petersburg Times. p. 58. Retrieved 2021-05-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Newsmakers #2". The Tampa Tribune. 1978-05-24. p. 19. Retrieved 2021-06-03 – via Newspapers.com. Roger Bansemer, a Clearwater, Fla., artist, landed Monday evening at Nicholson, Ga., near Bishop.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Morgan, Philip (1988-01-02). "Artist gets project off the ground". St.Petersburg Times. p. 57. Retrieved 2021-05-27 – via Newspapers.com. The artist's most widely seen work, perhaps, is the mural of the balloon on the side of Clearwater Beach's Spyglass Motel.
  16. ↑ Swyers, Carol (1983-05-16). "Trident Garden Party fund-raiser a 'splashy' affair". St.Petersburg Times. p. 47. Retrieved 2021-05-30 – via Newspapers.com. Clearwater artist Roger Bansemer astonished guests with his innovative drawing techniques ...
  17. ↑ Cosdon, Christina K. (1978-11-26). "A great balloon rises from the jumble of Clearwater Beach". St.Petersburg Times. p. 77. Retrieved 2021-05-30 – via Newspapers.com. It covers an eight-story wall of the Spy-Glass Motel on Clearwater Beach and already has become a landmark.
  18. ↑ Donila, Mike (2008-04-03). "So long to artist, familiar sight". St.Petersburg Times. p. 51. Retrieved 2021-05-26 – via Newspapers.com. Roger Bansemer and his landmark mural soon will be gone from Clearwater.
  19. ↑ "Bansemer showing in New York City". St.Petersburg Times. 1979-10-21. p. 37. Retrieved 2021-05-26 – via Newspapers.com. Roger Bansemer ... has gained favor with the tough New York City gallery circles.
  20. ↑ Cosdon, Christina (1983-04-22). "Roger Bansemer to exhibit works in Palm Harbor". St.Petersburg Times. p. 27. Retrieved 2021-05-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ Benbow, Charles (1983-05-02). "Bansemer's vibrant art comes on strong". St.Petersburg Times. p. 48. Retrieved 2021-05-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ Cosdon, Christina K. (1994-07-04). "Where artists come together". St.Petersburg Times. p. 56. Retrieved 2021-06-24 – via Newspapers.com. Every Tuesday night for 11 years, artists have gathered to refine their technique and enjoy each other's company.
  23. ↑ Marger, Mary Ann (1990-01-10). "Life on the Edge". St.Petersburg Times. p. 44. Retrieved 2021-06-21 – via Newspapers.com. His first, The Art of Hot-Air Ballooning, sparked a friendship with fellow balloon enthusiast Malcolm Forbes.'
  24. ↑ Marger, Mary Ann (1987-05-31). "Critical Eyes Cast a Look Back on the Season — Arts". St.Petersburg Times. p. 57. Retrieved 2021-06-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ Marger, Mary Ann (1988-03-20). "The Arts Council's Mandate". St.Petersburg Times. p. 69. Retrieved 2021-06-26 – via Newspapers.com. [the council] was losing its artistic integrity ... Possibly because of artists' complaints, including Bansemer's, the council is setting up a trust fund ...
  26. ↑ Marger, Mary Ann (1989-08-25). "Warm Up to Cool". St.Petersburg Times. p. 113. Retrieved 2021-06-27 – via Newspapers.com. PAVA was founded by good friends Bill Renc and Roger Bansemer. Renc now serves as president; Bansemer as treasurer.
  27. ↑ Coffey, Laura T. (1993-09-22). "Giant art of dolphins needs mall for studio". St.Petersburg Times. p. 95. Retrieved 2021-05-26 – via Newspapers.com. Michener, who has a home in St. Petersburg, and Bansemer became friends a couple of years ago after Michener read and enjoyed Southern Shores.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Malmgren, Jeanne (1997-10-19). "Michener Leaves Local Memories". St.Petersburg Times. p. 71. Retrieved 2021-06-28 – via Newspapers.com. I did a book called Southern Shores and he wrote me a letter asking if he could meet me. He said he was using the book as a reference for a book he was writing.
  29. ↑ "1993-02-26 – James. A. Michener to Robert Vavra and Roger Bansemer". University of Northern Colorado. 1993. Retrieved 2021-05-22. ... The interview with me, and later discussion with the students, will focus on your experiences in getting started in you professions and the ways in which you managed to have your books published ...
  30. ↑ Watson, Sterling (Summer 2001). "Teaching with James Michener". Michigan Quarterly Review. XL (3). hdl:2027/spo.act2080.0040.315. Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  31. ↑ "G. Michael Harris Opens New Titanic Exhibit". PRLog. 2009-01-16. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  32. ↑ "Titanic Expedition Talk". St.Petersburg Times. 2001-01-20. p. 73. Retrieved 2021-07-14 – via Newspapers.com. Roger Bansemer will discuss his visit to the wreck of the Titanic as a gust of RMS Titanic Inc. for "Titanic Expedition 2000" ... Free.
  33. ↑ Fields, Monique (2001-01-18). "Awestruck artist paints after 'Titanic' encounter". St.Petersburg Times. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-07-13 – via Newspapers.com. Having seen the sunken ship in its North Atlantic grave, a Clearwater painter captures the experience on canvas.
  34. ↑ James Cameron (2003). Foreword. Journey to Titanic. By Bansemer, Roger. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press. ISBN 978-1-5616-4293-9. Search this book on

External Links[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ The Titanic visits were journaled on video by Bansemer (see File:Bansemer painting inside Mir 1 submersible on bow of Titanic.jpg, File:Tititanic Dive on Mir 1.jpg, and Painting and Travel with Roger and Sarah Bansemer, episode 116).
  2. ↑ There are several news articles written about individual murals over the years and at least one (Sydney, Australia) was written about an international mural. A mural section and more research can be added to this article.
  3. ↑ Numerous small news articles exist demonstrating volunteer work and donation of works. A volunteer section of this article can be developed.


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