Dan Rupe

This interview with Dan Rupe was conducted at his home on Columbia Street in Hudson, NY, on July 3, 2017. Rupe is an artist, and in this interview he discusses his life through this lens, from his Childhood in an Indianan Mennonite home to his education at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan to his journeys around the world that have led him to Hudson, NY. A significant point in Rupe’s life, which he describes at length, was at 16 or 17 years of age when he realized he wanted to be an artist, decided to attend a private arts high school, and came out to his family as a gay man. At the time of this interview, Rupe is preparing to move across the river to Athens, NY, in Greene County to an apartment building, and much of his conversation centers on that transition, including selling his house in Hudson, packing and paring down his belongings, and how his work will continue in a new place. He reflects on his past and projects into the future through a discussion of his spirituality and worldview. A second recording was made after the conclusion of the interview as Rupe discussed some of his work stored in his living room. These paintings traced Rupe’s journeys around the world from Easter Island to Chicago to Rhode Island to Hudson.

This interview may be of interest to someone curious about how an artist’s worldview can shape work and life; refining one’s own spirituality; and, making significant life transitions.