Walter Midener (1912–1998) was a German born American artist. He studied at the

Berlin Academy of Arts The Academy of Arts (german: Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The Academy's predecessor organization was fo ...

(1932–1936), and received a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(M.A.) from

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

(1950). Midener settled in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

where he became an influential sculptor and teacher. He was the head of the Sculpture Department of the Art School of the Society of Arts and Crafts, and president of The Center for Creative Studies. He received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the Center for Creative Studies in 1997. Midener was married to the

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

artist Margaret Midener from 1947 until his death. Their daughter

Wendy Froud Wendy Froud (''née'' Midener; born 1954) is an American doll-artist, sculptor, puppet-maker, and writer. She is best known for her work fabricating Yoda for the 1980 film '' Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'', for which she has been called "th ...

is an internationally exhibited sculptor and doll artist, and the designer of puppets for films such as ''

The Dark Crystal ''The Dark Crystal'' is a 1982 dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and The J ...

'', ''

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...

'', ''

The Muppet Movie ''The Muppet Movie'' is a 1979 American musical road comedy film directed by James Frawley, produced by Jim Henson, and the first theatrical film featuring the Muppets. A co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States, the film w ...

'', and ''

The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based o ...

''.

References

Midener, Walter Midener, Walter Berlin University of the Arts alumni 1912 births 1998 deaths College for Creative Studies 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists American male sculptors {{US-sculptor-stub