Johnson says, “The ideas I find compelling tend to run toward the personal/emotive. Concepts are derived from living life, when making our house habitable, sheltering ideas dominated the work, when raising children, my art was filled with interpretations of those interactions. If some crisis comes up, working it out through art is often a way to lessen the load.”

In later work the ideas are less defined. A group of steel pieces that were colored with vibrant paint stemmed from listening to jazz. Stacked concrete work comes from a deep-seated satisfaction with attempting to pile things up and then being proud of the daring result.

In 1997 Dan worked on a grant funded project where he finished a piece of art each day for the entire year. Recently he has been working on making films and had screenings last year of the documentary, “Inside the Playwright’s Head”.

Johnson’s art training at Washington University in St. Louis and at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis resulted in a BFA. He earned his MFA at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Dan Johnson currently works out of studios on his property in Alto Pass. For further information and a look at some of Dan’s sculptural work please visit