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Lester Van Winkle

American sculptor living in Virginia (born 1944)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ56063559
Source-derived summary

Lester Gordon Van Winkle is an American sculptor living in Virginia.

Education

In 1967-09 Van Winkle earned a Master in Arts degree, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky. In 1964-67 he studied for his Bachelor of Science Degree, East Texas State University, Commerce, Texas, with a major in art and a minor in history following study 1962-64 at Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, Texas.

Academic appointments

Lester Van Winkle served on the faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University's School of the Arts for over 35 years and served as chair of the Sculpture Department in his last year before retiring. He was awarded tenure in 1975, became an associate professor in 1978, and a full professor in 1985.

Awards

Van Winkle received a 1995 commission from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business to create a sculpture award for Richard Holder, CEO, Reynolds Metals, who was occupant of the Thalhimer Chair in the School of Business at VCU. In 1994 and 1992 he received VCU Faculty Grants-in-Aid and was awarded the Virginia Atelier for summer residency at Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris.

Exhibitions and collections

His sculpture Rocker with Cactus is in the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Exhibitions of art by Lester Van Winkle include in 1980 Flat Stuff Paintings, Main Art Gallery, Richmond, Virginia. Titles such as "All My Shirts Are Green" show the humor and idiosyncrasy of his art. In 1984 he presented: The Watermelon Show, a group show at Willard Lee Gallery, Richmond.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Lester Van Winkle” is american sculptor living in Virginia (born 1944). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Lester, Winkle and American, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1967, 1964, 1962, 1975—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1944-01-01. For this dossier, Lester, Winkle and American is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “american sculptor living in Virginia (born 1944)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q56063559. VIAF identifies the subject as 96523487. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1967, 1964, 1962 and 1975.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Lester Van Winkle” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.