NIU School of Art remembers retired professor

from the DeKalb Daily Chronicle

Walter Neil Ball, retired from the NIU School of Art, died Jan. 3 at the DeKalb County Rehab & Nursing Center in DeKalb. He was 74.

Born Dec. 14, 1930, in Pratt, Kan., he was the son of William Palmer Ball and Helen Edith (Haog) Ball.

After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Walter went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts from Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan.; a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Wichita in Wichita, Kan.; and a doctorate from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

He taught art at Wisconsin State University in Superior, Wis.; The Ohio State University in Columbus; Sacramento State University in Sacramento, Calif.; and Wisconsin State University in Oshkosh, Wis. In 1968, he joined the faculty at NIU, where he taught painting and drawing in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts until his retirement in 1996.

Walter became an award-winning professional artist as an undergraduate student and continued to win many awards and professional recognition for his paintings and drawings throughout his long career.

His work has been exhibited in hundreds of museums and art galleries throughout the United States, including The Art Institute of Chicago; The Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach, Fla.; The Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Mo.; The E.B. Crocker Art Gallery in San Francisco, Calif.; and The Evansville Museum of Arts and Science in Evansville, Ind., where he received the purchase award for his oil painting “Zephyr.” His work is in many other public and private collections throughout the United States, as well as in Europe and Asia.

Walter was the beloved husband of Corintha (Thomas) Ball; the loving father of Charles C. (Kate) Ball of Geneva and Alexis (husband, Mohamed Barahaoua) Ball of Aurora; and the grandfather of granddaughter Alexis and grandson, Khalil. He is further survived by three sisters, Gloria Ball Tefft of Rolla, Mo., Geneva Ball Heiman of Durango, Colo., and Mesa, Ariz., and Gertrude Ball Bay of Carson City, Nev.; and two sisters-in-law, Kathleen of Manhattan, Kan., and Maxine of Rockwall, Texas; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his mother, father, and two brothers, John K. Ball of Rockwall, Texas, and Robert Ball of Manhattan, Kan.

1-18-05