Matt Niebuhr

American b. 1969
Artist

I am a full-time artist living and working in Des Moines, Iowa. Trained as an architect, I established a studio practice pursuing personal work in the summer of 2012 named "West Branch Studio". I am the creative director and an artist / designer engaged in making public art as Senior Partner with the Art Studio at RDG Planning & Design in Des Moines, Iowa. The works represented here are personal works associated with West Branch Studio.

For me, drawing is thinking.

Drawing is a fundamental way to explore the relationships of action and reaction. The drawings are records: of the mind (thinking), of the hand (doing) and of the eye (sensing). With my drawing practice, my aim is to investigate the accumulation of lines representing a wide range of work from realistic depiction of form to abstract formlessness. I'm most intrigued by the possibilities of simple lines and the space in between thinking, doing and sensing.

Bachelor of Architecture, ISU 1992
European independent study - fall 1990 / summer 1991

Exhibition participant with RDG Planning & Design at the US Pavilion at Architecture biennale Venice, Italy May 10 - November 23, 2025

From a national open call for exhibitors, from a field of almost 400 submissions, one of fifty-four participants selected to reflect and exhibit excellence in American architecture and design, as expressed through the ethos of PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity

Exhibit of the Lake Como Park Pavilion entitled “Do Something GOOD For Your Neighbor”

Art out of Context: Possibilities in the Public Realm
University of Iowa Museum of Art
First Friday
Guest Featured Artist
November, 2016
Iowa City, Iowa

ft2 Exhibition
2016 Des Moines Art Center Gala
A Celebration of Architecture
September, 2016
American Enterprise Building
Des Moines, Iowa

Art at the Café
Drawings by Matt Niebuhr
A partnership between the Iowa Arts Council, the State Historical Museum of Iowa and Café Barattas.
February - April 2015
Des Moines, Iowa

Get Drawn In
University of Iowa Museum of Art
First Friday
Featured Artist
October, 2012
Iowa City, Iowa

...