Artist Biography & Facts

Walter Prochownik

Walter A. Prochownik (American, 1923-2000) artist and teacher primarily known for his optical-abstract "Series" of works that spanned from the mid 1960's to the mid 1990's.

Prochownik completed three large commissioned murals in Buffalo, NY, as well as portraits, landscapes, seascapes, figurative and other abstract works. He worked in many different mediums, each with equal ease, including; pastel, mixed media, oil, acrylic, charcoal and graphite.  He was born in Buffalo in 1923 but within his first year, his family returned to the Bielsko (now Bielsko-Biala) area of Silesia in the south of Poland.  At the age of seventeen, Prochownik took advantage of his American citizenship and returned to Western New York in 1940, leaving his family behind in hopes of avoiding the conflict that followed in Poland after the Nazi occupation began in 1939. His parents managed to get him out on the last boat.

In 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Infantry Division and served as a machine gunner fighting in five major WWII campaigns throughout Europe and Africa. He became a prisoner of war in 1945, and spent the last four months of the war in a German prison camp. His creativity and strong work ethic kept him alive by making boots for the Germans which allowed him to barter for bread, protecting him and his friends from harm until their liberation at the end of WWII.

"Stories of this time in Prochownik's life abound, each one a testament to his character and talent. Always preferring to make the most of an unpleasant situation, he volunteered to cut the hair of his fellow soldiers. For fun, he created patterns on the tops of their heads where the designs would be hidden underneath their helmets. When the commanding officer caught wind of this, he called the soldiers out to stand at attention and commanded, "Helmets off!" That was the end of Prochownik's career as a military barber. Another telling story suggests his artistic tendencies were encouraged by an Army doctor who kept him in the infirmary for a small hand injury so that he could finish filling the bare walls with paintings of pin-up girls. This act saved his life as his unit was wiped out in combat while he painted."[1]

After he returned home from the war he enrolled in the Art Institute of Buffalo which was supported by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) at the time. Within eighteen months, he had his first solo exhibition at the Institute which was comprised of representational landscapes of Poland, along with places and events he had witnessed during WWII, scenes like the burning of Warsaw, the Anzio beachhead, and the drying of fish nets by the Baltic Sea. He also studied at the Art Students League of New York under Edwin Dickinson (American, 1891-1978), and was a close friend of the acclaimed Buffalo artist Charles E. Burchfield (American, 1893-1967) who also influenced his work.

He later returned to Buffalo and worked at Bell Aerospace Corporation (now Bell Helicopter Textron, a Division of Textron, Hurst, TX) to support himself, his wife (from his first marriage) and their family. When Bell Aerospace downsized, Prochownik began painting commissioned portraits to supplement his income and also opened his own framing business in his studio at 545 Elwood Avenue where he framed pieces for the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo. After his first marriage ended, he remarried fellow artist Sarah (née Everett) Prochownik (American, 20th Century-) who had been a student in one of his classes in the late 1970's at Buffalo State University. Their extended family included daughters; Deborah Prochownik-Mielcarek, Joanne Prochownik Everard, Louisa Levine, Diane Prochownik and Grace Jerauld.

As a teacher whose career spanned over thirty-two years, Prochownik was a dedicated and well respected instructor who encouraged, supported and inspired his students. He taught at Millard Fillmore College Evening Division from 1963-1981 and at SUNY Empire State College from 1975-1995. Prochownik later taught in the Department of Art & Art History as well as the Faculty of Arts and Letters from 1981-1995 at the State University at Buffalo (UB), NY, and was appointed Professor Emeritus in 1995. Upon his retirement from SUNY Buffalo, the faculty & students of the Art Department honored Prochownik with a solo exhibition entitled "New Works: By Walter Prochownik", which was presented in the Art Department Gallery & Atrium, Center for the Arts. Some of his students actively took a role in the Buffalo art scene, like; Alan Van Every, co-founder and former co-director of the Big Orbit Gallery, as well as Catherine Howe and Olenka Bodnarsky Gunn who were former curators at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. Prochownik also taught night classes in oil and watercolor circa the early-mid 1960's for the Niagara Falls Studio Group at their Art Center located at 1517 Main Street in Niagara Falls, NY, and at the Jewish Center in Buffalo, NY.

Always an outspoken advocate on the arts, Prochownik was named "Citizen of the Year" in 1976 by the Buffalo Evening News, and was appointed in 1978 to the Mayor's Committee on the Arts and Cultural Affairs. In 1980, he was appointed to the Buffalo Arts Commission where he served until his resignation in 1997. He had numerous successful solo and group exhibitions, and won many awards and accolades during his career, but never wanted a retrospective of his work while he was alive, and always insisted on showing his newest work. His artwork can be found in many museums, galleries and numerous public, corporate and private collections worldwide.

Prochownik primarily worked in series which spanned from the mid 1960's to the mid 1990's. Some of his most important series include; "The Portrait Series" (1966-1975), "The Homeless Series" (1968) which "portray nameless figures with faces and expressions that the artist found interesting and full of character"[2], "The Space Series" (1968-1975) where "…his attempts to depict light in landscapes and in abstract paintings came to fruition"[3], "The Cloud Series" (1971-1973) which "captures the sky with his mastery in manipulating pastel and charcoal"[4], "Summer Series" (1976), "Horizon Series" (1982)"Environment & Technology Series" (1984) in which "Prochownik began to comment on the interference caused by the presence of technology in the natural landscape"[5], "Apocolyptic Landscape Series" (1988) where "Prochownik was ever more concerned with environmental decay."[6], "Pollution Series" (1993) which "…used unrealistic colors and forms to convey polluted views."[7], and his "Mt. Zion/Western Series" (1995-) which had "…no familiar shapes or compositional devices. What we see is simply a depiction of rock that consumes the canvas."[8], and was his last series before he became too ill to paint. Walter Prochownik died Monday, August 14, 2000 at the age of 76 after a long illness, Sisters Hospital, Buffalo, NY, and was survived by his wife Sarah Prochownik. A private service celebrating his life was held that following Thursday.

"Prochownik's sensitive works developed in series through a career that spanned more than half a century. The artist never wanted a retrospective exhibit in his lifetime, always showing his new series of paintings and drawings. As we look at the impressive body of his work, these series stand strong while subtley overlapping as in the moods explored and evoked in his imagery."[9]

Prochownik once stated in an interview from the late 1960's that, "There are just so many ways to create depth on a two-dimensional surface. It is a great challenge to do something different."[10]

"Even more than his technical excellence, however, we discover in his pastels and other works on paper a fertile and poetic mind that surprises and delights us from one series to the next."[11]

"Walter could put you at ease with yourself and get you to open up and explore your inner self. He taught us to free our spirits."[12] -Art Rago, former student

"…a painter always in tight command. His abstractions sometimes display a rationality so clear and apparent that they can seem like gigantic, crisply constructed intellectual exercises that also happen to be beautiful."[13]

One of Prochownik's colleagues at SUNY and close friend fellow artist Harvey Breverman (American, 1934-) once stated, "[Prochownik] was a man without pretense, a vigorous, tough man full of artistic and personal integrity. He exemplified for so many of us—students, colleagues, friends, others in the profession—what being an artist is all about."[14]

Murals: During the course of his art career, Prochownik was commissioned to do three large murals for public spaces throughout Buffalo. Probably his most well known and important mural was "You the People" (1974), created for the people of Erie County at the request of former County Executive Edward VanBuren "Ned" Regan (American, 1930-) for the lobby of the Edward A. Rath County Building, 95 Franklin St. in Buffalo, NY. Regan recommended Prochownik for the assignment and suggested that Prochownik paint, "an artistic statement which can be easily understood by the average citizen"[15]. Prochownik's proposed idea was unanimously accepted by the committee with Prochownik stating that the mural dealt with "the human element that creates a unified community, with man as a builder."[16] The mural depicted the people of Erie County, past, present and future, and was dedicated in December 1974. Another important mural was "Summertime" (1988), which was done in oil on nine panels, commissioned by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York and was painted in the basement of the Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, NY. It was subsequently donated to the University at Buffalo and installed in the Charles B. Sears Law Library, O'Brian Hall, North Campus, Buffalo, NY. The third mural commissioned was "I Know Where I Have Been, but I Know Not Where I am Going" (1990), acrylic, and was commissioned by William J. Magavern II for his Peter Castle-designed law offices of Magavern, Magavern & Grimm, L.L.P. in the Rand Building, Buffalo, NY.

Public Works: In addition to his murals, Prochownik has works in various public spaces in and around Buffalo such as; "I Came Like the Water and Like the Wind I Go" (1964), oil on canvas, Nichols School, 1250 Amherst Street, Buffalo, NY; "Horizon Series" (1982), mixed media, collection of Sarah E. Prochownik, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Central Library, 1 Lafayette Square, Buffalo, NY; "Temperate Zones" (1989), acrylic on wood, Episcopal Church Home and Affiliates, Inc., 850 Columbus Parkway, Buffalo, NY; "Portrait of Dr. Oscar A. Silverman", (unknown date), oil on canvas, Oscar A. Silverman Undergraduate Library, mezzanine between lobby and basement, University at Buffalo, Capen Hall, North Campus, Buffalo, NY; and an untitled piece from the "Space Series", (unknown date), oil on canvas, Herb Siegel Foundation, c/o Siegel, Kelleher & Kahn, 426 Franklin Street, Buffalo, NY.

Chronology:

1923- Born, December 12, Buffalo, NY. Siblings were sisters; Gertrude, Annette and Josephine, and brothers Edward and Victor.

1924- His family returned to the Bielsko area (now Bielsko-Biala) of Silesia in the south of Poland.

1940- Returned to the Western New York at the age of seventeen, leaving his family and eldest sister behind, in hopes of avoiding the conflict that followed in Poland after the Nazi occupation began in 1939. His parents managed to get him out on the last boat.

1943- He enlisted in the U.S. Army Infantry Division where he served as a machine gunner during WWII, fighting in five major campaigns throughout Europe and Africa. In 1945, he became a prisoner of war and spent the last four months of the war in a German prison camp.

1945- Enrolled in the Art Institute of Buffalo where he studied until 1947.

1947- Had his first solo exhibition of works at the Art Institute which comprised mostly of representational landscapes of Poland and WWII events, Buffalo, NY.

1947-49- Studied at the Art Students League of New York under Edwin Dickinson (American, 1891-1978), NYC.

1959- Exhibited, group show (Gold Medal), Buffalo Society of Artists Annual Exhibition, Buffalo, NY.

1960- Exhibited, group show (Bronze Medal), Buffalo Society of Artists Annual Exhibition, Buffalo, NY.

1962- Spring, exhibited, group show, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. May, juried the exhibition with fellow artist Robert N. Blair (American, 1912-2003) for the Niagara Falls Studio Group, at the historic Klaussen stone house on Center Street in Lewiston, NY.

1963- Exhibited, group show (Grand Award), the National Polish Arts Exhibition. Exhibited, group show (Purchase Prize, and was also a traveling exhibition), "National Biennial Drawings USA", Minnesota Museum of Art (now the Minnesota Museum of American Art), St. Paul, MN.

From circa 1963-66- Fall/Winter each year, taught night adult painting classes for the Niagara Falls Studio Group, at their Art Center, 1517 Main Street, Niagara Falls, NY.

1963-67- Exhibited, group show, "In Western New York", Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

1963-1981- Taught at Millard Fillmore College Evening Division.

1964- Exhibited, solo show, Members' Gallery, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

1966- Exhibited, group show (Purchase Prize, and was also a traveling exhibition), "National Biennial Drawings USA", Minnesota Museum of Art (now the Minnesota Museum of American Art), St. Paul, MN. Exhibited, solo show, The College of Wooster, Wooster, OH. Exhibited, solo show, Goodman Gallery, Buffalo, NY. June, juried an art show for the annual Niagara Falls Studio Group Juried Show, Parkway Inn, Niagara Falls, NY.

1967- February, exhibited, solo show of drawings, Goodman Galleries at the Park Lane, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, group show (Purchase Prize), "National XXII American Drawings Biennial", Norfolk Museum of Arts & Sciences (now the Chrysler Museum of Art), Norfolk, VA. Exhibited, solo show, Kenmore Galleries, Philadelphia, PA. Exhibited, group show, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, CO. Exhibited, group show, Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT. Traveling exhibition, "Kosciusko Foundation Traveling Exhibition".

1967-72- Exhibited, group show (Purchase Prize 1969), "National Drawings & Small Sculptures Exhibition", Ball State University, Muncie, IN.

1968- January, exhibited, group show, for fourteen members of the art faculty at Buffalo State University College, works of abstract patterns and figurative representations, held at the Buffalo State University College, Upton Hall Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, solo show, Chautauqua Art Association Gallery, Chautauqua, NY.

1968-69- Traveling exhibition, "Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Tour".

1968-70- Traveling exhibition, "National Biennial Drawings USA", Minnesota Museum of Art (now the Minnesota Museum of American Art), St. Paul, MN.

1969- Exhibited, February-March, solo show, mostly oils on canvas and some mixed media works, Hemingway Galleries, NYC. Exhibited, group show, "In Western New York", Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, group show, Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Exhibited, group show, Phoenix Art Gallery, Phoenix, AZ. Traveling exhibition, University Artists 1969 (SUNY 1969 Convocation on the Arts).

1970- Exhibited, group show, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA.

1970-71- Traveling exhibition, "Mississippi Art Association's Traveling Exhibition".

1971- Fall, exhibited, group show, "Artists in Residence", Brandeis University National Women's Committee Buffalo Chapter, held in homes in the Middlesex Road area, Buffalo, NY.

1972- Exhibited, solo show, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC. Traveling exhibition, Cultural Exchange Exhibition to Kanazawa, Japan.

1973- Exhibited, solo show, More-Rubin Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

1975- Exhibited, solo show, Burchfield Art Center (now the Burchfield-Penney Art Center), Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, solo show, More-Rubin Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, group show, Burchfield Art Center (now the Burchfield-Penney Art Center), Buffalo, NY.

1975-77- Traveling exhibition, The Patteran Society.

1975-1995- Taught at SUNY Empire State College.

1976- Named "Citizen of the Year" in 1976 by the Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, group show (Owen H. Kenan Award), "38th Annual National Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings", Palm Beach, FL. Exhibited, group show, Burchfield Art Center (now the Burchfield-Penney Art Center), Buffalo, NY. Traveling exhibition, "Cultural Exchange Exhibition to Dortmund", West Germany.

1977- Exhibited, solo show, More-Rubin Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

1978-80- Appointed to the Mayor's Committee on the Arts and Cultural Affairs, Buffalo, NY.

1979- Exhibited, solo show, More-Rubin Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

1980-1997- Appointed to the Buffalo Arts Commission, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, group show, "5 Americans Invitational Exhibition", Rodman Hall Centre, St. Catherines, Ontario, Canada.

1981-1995- Taught, Department of Art & Art History at The State University at Buffalo (appointed Professor Emeritus in 1995), Buffalo, NY.

1982- Exhibited, solo show, State University of New York at Buffalo, Capen Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

1983- Exhibited, group show, "In Western New York", Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, group show, "Rockford International Biennial `83", Rockford, IL. Exhibited, group show, "Art as Image Invitational Exhibition", Indiana University at Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA.

1986- Prochownik juried the AAO Gallery's show "Works on Paper and Canvas", Buffalo, NY.

1987- Exhibited, group show, "Wayward Muse", Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

1989- Exhibited, November-December, solo show, "Apocolyptic Landscape", Burchfield Art Center (now the Burchfield-Penney Art Center), Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, group show, "SUNY `89 Exhibit", New Visions Gallery, Ithaca, NY.

1991- Exhibited, group show, "Abstracts", Big Orbit Gallery, Buffalo, NY.

1993- Exhibited, March to April, group show, "Prochownik", paintings accompanied by works from colleagues and friends, Barbara Schuller Gallery, 345 Franklin St., Buffalo, NY. Exhibited, solo show, Rochester Institute of Technology, Main Gallery, Rochester, NY. Traveling exhibition, University Artists 1993 (SUNY 1993 Convocation of the Arts).

1995- Appointed Professor Emeritus, Department of Art & Art History at The State University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY. January-February, exhibited, solo show, "New Works: By Walter Prochownik", presented in the Art Department Gallery & Atrium, Center for the Arts at The State University at Buffalo (UB), and was sponsored by the faculty & students of the Art Department to honor Walter Prochownik as he reluctantly retired from thirty-two years of teaching. Exhibited, group show, "X-Sightings", Anderson Gallery, Buffalo, NY. After his retirement, Prochownik traveled to Mt. Zion National Park, Utah.

1997- March 19, The Arts Council in Buffalo and Erie County honored Prochownik for his contributions to the arts, at the 11th Annual Arts Awards Luncheon, Buffalo, NY.

2000- Died, Monday, August 14, at the age of 76 after a long illness, Sisters Hospital, Buffalo, NY, and was survived by his wife Sarah Prochownik. A private service celebrating his life was held Thursday, August 17.

2003- Fall/Winter, exhibited, group show, "Invisible Archives Vol. 4: 120 Years of Landscape", selections from the collection of Gerald Mead, part II, Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY.

2004- July-September, exhibited, solo show, "Walter Prochownik: In Retrospect, 1965-1995", 93 works of paintings and works on paper, University at Buffalo, UB Anderson Gallery, First and Second Floor Galleries, One Martha Jackson Place, Buffalo, NY. September-October, exhibited, solo show retrospective, "Walter Prochownik: Faces from the Past", 30 pieces shown of mixed media, oils, charcoals, pastels, pastel & charcoal, and charcoal & graphite, Meibohm Fine Arts, East Aurora, NY.

2005- May-June, Exhibited, 2 person show, "Sarah Prochownik, Paintings and Walter Prochownik, Selected Works from His Studio", which had not been previously exhibited, The Western New York Artists Group, Art Dialogue Gallery, One Linwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY. Fall, exhibited, group show, "Abstraction", Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY.

2006- Exhibited, group show, "An Alternative Course: The Art Institute of Buffalo", Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY.

2007- Exhibited, November, group show, Niagara Falls Public Library, Main Library, Niagara Falls, NY.

Memberships: Member on the board of the Patteran Society of Artists, Buffalo, NY; Buffalo Society of Artists (BSA), Buffalo, NY.

Exhibited Also: Chautuaqua National Juried Show (First Prize, unknown year), Chautuaqua, NY. The Museum of European Art, Clarence, NY; West Germany; Japan and Poland.

Awards: 19 national awards including; First Prize, for an oil painting, Chautauqua National Juried Show (unknown year), Chautauqua, NY; Gold Medal, Buffalo Society of Artists Annual Exhibition, Buffalo, NY, 1959; Bronze Medal, Buffalo Society of Artists Annual Exhibition, Buffalo, NY, 1960; Grand Award, the National Polish Arts Exhibition, 1963; Purchase Prizes, "National Biennial Drawings USA", Minnesota Museum of Art (now the Minnesota Museum of American Art), St. Paul, MN, (1963 & 66); Purchase Prize, "National XXII American Drawings Biennial", Norfolk Museum of Arts & Sciences (now the Chrysler Museum of Art), Norfolk, VA, 1967; Purchase Prize, "National Drawing & Small Sculpture Show", Ball State University, Muncie, IN, 1969; Owen H. Kenan Award, "38th Annual National Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings", Palm Beach, FL, 1976.

Honors & Appointments: Am-Pol Eagle Citizen of the Year Award for Art/Drama, given by the American-Polish newspaper the Am-Pol Eagle, 1974; Named "Citizen of the Year" in 1976 by the Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo, NY; Carl Naish Award, Millard Fillmore College Student Association, 1978-79; Mayor's Committee on the Arts & Cultural Affairs, 1978-80, Buffalo, NY; Appointed to the Buffalo Arts Commission in 1980 and served until he resigned in 1997, Buffalo, NY; March 19, 1997, The Arts Council in Buffalo and Erie County honored Prochownik for his contributions to the arts, at the 11th Annual Arts Awards Luncheon, Buffalo, NY; Appointed Professor Emeritus in 1995, Department of Art & Art History at The State University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY; Annual Arts Award, Arts Council in Buffalo and Erie County and Greater Buffalo Partnership, 1997; Trustee, Charles Rand Penney Foundation, Buffalo, NY.

Museums: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, "Earth Segment #2" (1969), charcoal & pastel on paper, 22.75 x 30.5", Norman E. Boasberg Fund (1973), and "Meld II" (1979), oil on canvas, 42 x 34", Albert H. Tracy Fund, 1979, Buffalo, NY; Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Drawings for Prochownik's mural "You the People" (1974), "Erosional Break" (1995), oil on wood triptych, and others, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY; Ball State University Museum of Art, 2000 W. University Avenue, Muncie, IN; Minnesota Museum of American Arts, St. Paul MN.

Public Collections: Federal Court Building, Buffalo, NY; The Buffalo Club, Buffalo, NY; The Buffalo News, Buffalo, NY; The Charles Rand Penney Collection, "Tag" (1961), oil on canvas, 60-1/4 x 40-1/8", Lockport, NY; St. Bonaventure University Art Center, an untitled piece (1988), acrylic on board, gift of Elizabeth Stewart and Dr. Anthony Bannon (Class of 1964), 1997, St. Bonaventure, NY; HSBC Bank, Buffalo and Utica, NY; M&T Bank, Buffalo, NY; Rich Products Corporation, Buffalo, NY; The Xerox Corporation, Rochester, NY; Hooker Chemical Corporation (a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, OXY), Niagara Falls, NY; Cliffstar Corporation, Dunkirk, NY; Penn-Bank Corporation Headquaters, Titusville, PA; The College of Wooster, Wooster, OH; Quaker Oats Corporation, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL; Mississippi Art Association, Jackson, MS; Southeast Banking Corporation, Miami, FL.

Publications:
Buffalo Evening News, article, "Artists Puts Scenes of Adventures on Canvas", May 31, 1947; Niagara Falls Gazette, "Studio Group Will View Painting Demonstration", January, unknown day, 1961; Niagara Falls Gazette, "Art Show Will Open on Sunday", Thursday, May 24, 1962; Niagara Falls Gazette, "Studio Art Show Delights Spectators", by Janice Clayton, Monday, May 28, 1962; Niagara Falls Gazette, "Painting Classes At The Studio Group Art Center", Pg. 5, Monday, September 21, 1964; Niagara Falls Gazette, "Art Classes Begin Here Tuesday", Saturday, September 26, 1964; Niagara Falls Gazette, "Art Classes Start Here On Tuesday", Pg. 6, Thursday, January 7, 1965; Niagara Falls Gazette, "Studio Group Schedules Series of Art Classes", Pg. 23, Thursday, January 27, 1966;

Niagara Falls Gazette, "Polly King Top Winner In Art Show", June, unknown day, 1966; Niagara Falls Gazette, "The Lively Arts: Art is Constant Search For New Visual Imagery", By Donald R. Harter, Pg. 10-B, Sunday, January 14, 1968; Buffalo, "The Lively Arts: Walter A. Prochownik.", Pg. 48, July, 1968; New York Magazine, Art Section, "Opening Solos", Pg. 17, February 24, 1969 and also, Pg. 21, March 3 issue, 1969, as well as Pg. 19, March 10 issue, 1969; Niagara Falls Gazette, "Sculptors, artists exhibit", Friday, October 15, 1971; American Art in Upstate New York: Drawings, Watercolors and Small Sculptures, by the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, 1974; Buffalo Evening News, "Rath Bld. Mural Dedicated to You, the People", by Jean Reeves, Thursday, December 5, 1974; Who's Who in American Art-1976, by Jaques Cattell Press, 12th Edition, 1976;

In Western New York, by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 1977; ADS News, "Gatekeepers to the Art Market Part II: Artists' Views.", Pg. 4, June, 1980; Buffalo Spree, "Prochownik: A Painter's Frames", by Linda Levine, Volume 15, No. 4, Pgs. 107-11, Winter, 1981; Who's Who in American Art-1986, by Jaques Cattell Press, 1986; The Wayward Muse: A Historical Survey of Painting in Buffalo, organized at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery-Susan Krane, Curator 1987; Albright-Knox Art Gallery: Painting and Sculpture/Acquisitions since 1972, by Susan Krane, 1987; Buffalo, Magazine of the Buffalo News, "The Artist's Life", by Carl Helko (Editor) intro column on Articles Page, with cover image of Walter Prochownik in his studio (photo by Richard W. Roeller/Buffalo News), and "Art & Soul", by Anthony Cardinale, Pgs. 6-10, 12-14, 16-17, and 25, January 17, 1988;

The Buffalo News, review "Landscapes that Unite Nature and Machine"; by Richard Huntington, December 10, 1989; Apocolyptic Landcape, by essay by Nancy Weekly, Burchfield Art Center (now the Burchfield-Penney Art Center), Rockwell Hall, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY, 1989; The Buffalo News, Art Section, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place", March 5, 1993; The Buffalo News, "Half and Half: On a seesaw between abstraction and illusion", Review Art section, by Richard Huntington, News Art Critic, Friday, March 19, 1993; Buffalo Business First, Western New York's business newspaper online news article, "Awards & Achievements", Business First of Buffalo, Friday, March 7, 1997; Who was Who in American Art 1564-1975, Vol. II, by Peter Hastings Falk Editor-in-Chief, 1999; Buffalo News, Obituaries Section, "Walter A. Prochownik dies; artist of international renown", by Karen Brady, News Staff Reporter, Pg. D-2, August, unknown day, 2000;

Buffalo News, newspaper article, "Images Can Be Deceiving", Friday, April 19, 2002; Walter Prochownik: In Retrospect, 1965-1995, from the exhibit of the same name, University at Buffalo, UB Anderson Gallery, Second Floor Gallery, One Martha Jackson Place, Buffalo, NY, 2004; ArtVoice, "Walter Prochownik: Master of Life, Light and Space", artfeature by Cynnie Gaasch, Pgs. 16-17, August 26, 2004; Buffalo News, article in Arts & Entertainment section, "In retrospect, Prochownik's incisiveness is clear", by Richard Huntington, News Critic, Sunday, Section G, Pgs. G1 & G2, August 29, 2004; "Walter Prochownik: Faces from the Past", exhibition catalog, Meibohm Fine Arts, Inc., East Aurora, NY, September 17-October 15, 2004; Walter Prochownik: In Retrospect, 1965-1998, by E.M. Kristen & Marie-Françoise Hutchinson, University of Buffalo, 2004; Buffalo News, online news article, "War Story", by Jana Eisenberg, November 11, 2005; The Artists Bluebook: 34,000 North American Artists to March 2005, by Lonnie Pierson Dunbier (Editor) of AskArt.com, Inc., 2005.

(Rewritten & compiled chronologically by Mark Strong of Meibohm Fine Arts, Inc., East Aurora, NY, 10/2010, www.meibohmfinearts.com, Sources: Too long to list here and are furnished upon request.)