David Lenz, local realist painter, uses his portraits to bring light to people that are often overlooked. His show, titled “People on the Periphery” recently debuted at the Museum of Wisconsin Art. The show included many photo-realistic portraits of people who he feels are forced onto the peripherals of society: farmers, people with cognitive disabilities, and children growing up in the Milwaukee inner city.

His “studio” is a warm and welcoming finished part of his garage where he creates his extremely detailed paintings. 

In 2006, David Lenz won one of 50 spots of over 4,000 works in the Outwin Bucherra Portrait Competition. For the piece submitted, David Lenz painted a portrait of his son, Sam, titled Sam and the Perfect World. The painting pictures a perfect landscape featuring rolling hills in Northern Wisconsin, with, Sam, who was diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome, standing in front of a fence, separating him from “the perfect world”. This fence is one of the many symbols often used in Lenz’s work.