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By OLLIE REED JR. Tribune Star Weiler When Wolfram Krank came to the United States in 1969, she spoke very little a le Speaks it fluently, even eloquently now, and only the careful listener will detect the accent engraved by years spent growing up in Austria. KRANK, WHO works as the City of Albuquerque’s graphic artist, was born in Tausten, West Germany in 1941, but before coming to America he spent most of his life in a small Austrian town just north of Salzburg. “T lived very close to the town where ‘Silent Night Was composed,” Krank says. Austria is a country noted for composers, for beautiful contryside and at the site of The Sound of Music.” It may well be the modern country that best fits the role of the classic storybook kingdom. WHY WOULD anyone leave a storybook kingdom? T left because it was so crowded, Krank answers. His search for elbow room took him first to a summer camp near Cincinnati, where he taught arts and crafts as part of a student exchange program. THERE FOLLOWED a job at a school for the retarded in Springfield, Mo., before his wanderings took him to San Diego. “‘It was the same in San Diego as it had been in Eu rope—crowded,” he recalls. He stayed there only a few months before picking up and starting across country again in 1965. He stopped in Albuquerque to visit a friend. He's been here ever since. * WAS struck by the mountains, the climate and the wide-open spaces,” he says. He had found his elbow room. “All my life I have liked hiking, swimming, bicycling, gardening and skiing — any thing to do with the out doors, Krank says. And the Albuquerque area has proven to be the answer to Krank’s call to the wild. BECAUSE OF his aversion to crowds, he says he has just about given up the downhill skiing he did in Europe. Now it is mostly Nordic or cross-country skiing for the Austrian art ist. He teaches classes in the sport once in a while, “Cross-country gets you closer to nature, and if you are into hiking, you can go two-thirds faster in the wine ler on skis,” he said. HIS DESIRE to commune with nature extends to win ter camping, and although he grew ip im 4 country not ed for its cold winters, he says the Coldest camping trip he ever experienced was int Chama. “We get down to 35 degrees below zero, he said. “But anybody can camp out in the Winter if they have the right equipment.” IN PURSUIT of his gar dening hobby, Krank says he has found that almost any thing will grow in Albuquer que's climate. “Whenl moved into my house in the Northeast Heights, there was nothing growing around it, he says. “Now I have five fruit trees growing there, and I grow my own grapes.” HE SAYS he is going to take up bee-keeping next. The bees, he says, will sup plydtac wittas he oneyhe ikes AS a natural sweether aml would greatly aid in pol tinating his plants. But Krank is first and foremost an artist. His de gree from Salaburg College is in the graphic and fine arts, and his first job in Al buquerque was with an ad vertising agency. NEARLY FOUR years ago, he joined the city as as graphic artist, which means he works on “everything which has to do with the print media or visuals, from logo designs and letter heads , brochures, tyers and charts.” He says he finds some of his city work unexciting but some of it is challenging as well, and the walls of his small City Hall office bear awards for the results. SOMEWHERE BETWEEN skiing, hiking and tree planting, Krank find some Spare time for mosaics, cal igraphy, wood-carving, painting in water colors (mostly landscapes) and con temporary basketry. He is most proud of his contemporary basketry, which is the use of basketry methods in the creation of unusual designs. He sold one of his Works, “Vasp with Outriding Strings, to_ the Johnson Wax Museum in New York. I t was part of a cross-country tour, KRANK SAYS he is in Albuquerque to stay, but he is still a wanderer at heart. Last year he went to Japan, and he has been totalk about five times. He is, however, still Austrian at heart. The slight accent, the sharp blue eyes and the ash-blond hair and Mustache give him away. His mother and one brother stil live in Austria Two brothers live in neighboring Germany. Sometime in the near future, he says, he is going to give up some of his elbow room long enough to pay them a visit. Albuquerque artist Wolfram Krank left a crowded Austria for the wide-open spaces of New Mexico, but his City Hall Scots phate office falls far short of being spacious.
Newspaper Details
Albuquerque Tribune
Albuquerque, New Mexico, US
Thu, Mar 03, 1977
Page 61
Full Page
Clipped by
Sara K.
