“What continues to stand out is his willingness to follow curiosity wherever it leads and to invite others, especially his students, to do the same.”
Nelli Garibyan, co-owner and curator of Idaho Art Gallery
Idaho Art Gallery in Meridian presents Now & Then, Idaho: A Living Exhibition by John Killmaster, a gallery-wide celebration of one of Idaho’s most influential and endlessly inventive artists. Spanning decades of work across abstraction, landscape, and his internationally celebrated enamel works, the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience the breadth of Killmaster’s creative journey.
Killmaster’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including serving as the sole representative of Idaho in The First Western States Biennial Exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., in 1978.
“I felt I should not have been the only artist representing Idaho. Idaho, really, has a lot to offer. It felt really cool, it was very exciting, a very exciting step, but I felt like there should have been more of us. Really to show the beauty of the region and the variety Idaho offers,” said Killmaster. His connection to the Smithsonian continued in 1984, when his painting Near Melba was included in Sawtooths and Other Ranges of the Imagination. The museum-exhibited work will be featured in Now & Then, Idaho and available for purchase through Idaho Art Gallery.
Over his career, Killmaster has also exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, and major enamel exhibitions across Europe, Asia, Canada, Australia, Israel, and Russia. He received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1978 and the International Enamelist Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.
Central to his legacy is his pioneering work in enamel on steel, a medium he helped expand through technical innovation and artistic exploration. Enameling fuses colored glass to steel through intense heat, creating a surface that is both permanent and luminous. For Killmaster, it became an intersection of art, chemistry, and invention.
He also played an instrumental role in developing enamel crayons. Made from finely ground glass suspended in crayon form, they allowed artists to draw directly onto steel, creating greater spontaneity, linear detail, and expressive mark-making.
Beyond enameling, Killmaster made significant contributions to abstract and landscape painting, continually expanding his work across mediums.
“[My abstract art] comes from nature, I suppose. And just an attitude. I figured I could do realism, and do it really well, but I needed to pick up a lot more knowledge by observing nature and looking. Really look, and see what is possible. Study the form, and the gesture: the important things. Look at nature from another angle.”
Nature has remained Killmaster’s greatest teacher.
Raised in the rural woods of Michigan and shaped by more than five decades in Idaho, he continually returns to the landscape—not simply to depict it, but to explore its structure, rhythm, and energy. That curiosity has guided every stage of his artistic journey.
“John Killmaster’s career is a study in fearless reinvention. From the precision of his early commercial illustration work to the bold experimentation of his enamel practice and his decades of teaching at Boise State University, his path reflects an artist who never settled into a single way of seeing,” said Nelli Garibyan, co-owner and curator of Idaho Art Gallery. “What continues to stand out is his willingness to follow curiosity wherever it leads and to invite others, especially his students, to do the same.”
Before becoming known for pushing the boundaries of enamel, Killmaster spent a decade as a commercial illustrator in Detroit, creating automobile renderings set within carefully crafted landscapes and cityscapes. In the 1960s, he left that career to pursue art school, eventually earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Michigan before moving to Idaho and teaching at Boise State University for nearly three decades.
As an educator, Killmaster encouraged students to explore broadly and resist creative limitations—an approach that mirrored his own philosophy. “The more you can do, the more opportunities you will have. That’s what I always told my students, don’t limit yourself. Try new things: if it interests you, try it. You never know what opportunity could come out of just trying something. If you can get good at a lot, you’ll always have something to do,” Killmaster said.
Although his formal teaching career concluded in 1997, retirement has done little to slow his creative momentum. For nearly three decades, he has continued to paint, experiment, and mentor artists from his studio. Now 91, he continues to embody the spirit of exploration that has defined his career from the beginning.
That enduring creative energy is one reason Now & Then, Idaho feels especially significant. “As someone who grew up in Idaho and has spent the past four years diving headfirst into the local art scene, this exhibition at Idaho Art Gallery feels especially meaningful,” said Garibyan. “John Killmaster’s work is deeply woven into the story of Idaho art, and it’s an honor to help share that legacy in this way. For me, this exhibition is not just about looking back, but about celebrating an artist who continues to shape how we understand creative practice here in Idaho.”
Now & Then, Idaho offers a rare opportunity to experience the full scope of Killmaster’s artistic journey. Works spanning multiple decades, mediums, and approaches reveal an artist who has continually reinvented himself while remaining true to a singular spirit of curiosity.
For longtime admirers and first-time viewers alike, the exhibition is a chance to engage with the work of a 91- year-old artist whose impact on Idaho’s cultural landscape is difficult to overstate. More than a celebration of past achievements, Now & Then, Idaho reflects an artist who is still searching, learning, and creating.
Now & Then, Idaho: A Living Exhibition by John Killmaster is on view at Idaho Art Gallery in downtown Meridian from September 1 through September 26, 2026, with an artist reception on Wednesday, September 9, from 4 to 8 p.m. Idaho Art Gallery is located at 830 N. Main St., Suite 110, Meridian, and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
