Ron Kowalke (Nov 8, 1936, Chicago – February 26, 2021, Honolulu) was a painter, printmaker, and sculptor. He was an art professor at the University of Hawaii from 1969-2000 and in retirement continued teaching one class a semester in painting or drawing. Kowalke did not expect to become an artist, but a friend dared him to apply to the Art Institute of Chicago and he was accepted, soon realizing he could be an artist. After two years there, he decided he needed a liberal arts education and enrolled at Rockford University (Rockford IL), earning a BA in 1959. With that education, he saw the advantages of using his intellect in creating art and not just recording what he saw. He earned an MFA degree at Cranbrook Academy (Bloomfield IL) in 1960.

After teaching art at Northern Illinois University (DeKalb IL) and Swain School of Design (New Bedford MA), he accepted an offer from the University of Hawaii as a professor in the Art Department. He was also a visiting professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw, Poland; the University of Washington, Seattle WA; and the University of Tasmania, Australia.

A prolific and world renowned artist, Kowalke’s works were in more than 100 exhibitions in Hawaii, the U.S. mainland and other countries. Permanent collections of his work are in many institutions, including:

Auckland Museum of Art, Davidson College (Davidson NC), Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Honolulu Museum of Art, Library of Congress, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art (New York City), Boston Public Library, Yale University Art Gallery.

Much of his art concerned landscapes that explored physical perspective with intellectual and cultural considerations as well as multiple framing elements. He explained that “… you must get truly involved in the water and the land … to transcend the common and the mundane, to go beyond the surface reality. You transcend your ordinary self.” (Artists of Hawaii, volume 2, 1977, p. 49).

In 2011 he wrote about his own creative process for an exhibit of his work in Beijing, China:

"Considering the nature of my creativity, I have found that my nature constantly questions, explores, invents, builds, destroys and rebuilds with the processes of experimentation, technical expertise, and daring. I dance and play with images and trust the creative process. Leaping into the unknown, into the abyss of birthing soil, wet with the juice of danger, knowing that the journey is ripe with twists, turns, detours, trickery, illusion, jokes and threats, brings both joy and anger. I trust my process. I am fearless in the studio." (Family-placed obituary, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, March 28, 2021.)