Artist Jeff McNutt autographs posters of one of his paintings during FRYfest, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021, at the Hyatt Regency Coralville Hotel & Conference Center in Coralville, Iowa.

Joseph Cress - Iowa City Press Citizen

Article by: Cory Christiansen, Artists Action Network

LLS Man of The Year: Michael Anderson

Article by Aly Brown - Iowa City Press Citizen - July 8, 2014

Wrigley Field painted seats on Michigan Avenue - Chicago Tribune

McNutt Gallery presents the work of artists Barry Phipps, Emily Kobliska, Jan Duschen and Jeff McNutt in a group show highlighting art that focuses on Iowa and the Midwest.

McNutt Gallery presents the represented artists in a group show presenting new work from all artists. April 2013

Hawkeye Expressionism for Charity by Marc Morehouse

Cedar Rapids Gazette - April 28, 2010

I first became aware of Jeff McNutt's "Hawkeye Expressionism" last fall, when the 41-year-old Iowa City native introduced his Hayden Fry portrait at FryFest.

This summer, there are two chances to get in the bidding for some Hawkeye Expressionism.

The above painting is McNutt's "On Iowa March & Memories," a 28" x 42" oil & Kinnick Stadium brick on canvas.

This painting will be available for bid at the Table 2 Table Annual Dinner tomorrow night at the University Athletic Club in Iowa City.

"Table 2 Table", an Iowa City group dedicated to keep wholesome, edible food from going to waste by collecting it from donors and distributing to those in need through agencies that serve the hungry, homeless, and at-risk populations. Their website is http://www.table2table.org/.

Mary Ferentz, wife of Iowa football coach Kirk, will be the keynote speaker.

In June, The University of Iowa Children's Hospital Golf Open (formerly Nate Kaeding's tournament) will have an auction for the McNutt portrait of Hayden Fry made specifically for FryFest. The Fry portrait is signed by Hayden and McNutt.

An original painting titled Hayden Fry - “Game Face”, oil on canvas, 36” X 60” created by artist Jeff McNutt will be displayed at the Tradeshow in the Coralville Marriott during Fry Fest.

Jeff McNutt calls his art “Hawkeye expressionism.” If you’re into the Herky, you might call it really, really cool.

McNutt, 41, is the artist behind the Hayden Fry portrait for FryFest, which is this Friday in Coralville. This isn’t McNutt’s only Hawkeye-based piece of art.

There’s the Nile Kinnick painting that sold for $11,500 at Nate Kaeding’s golf event this summer. His work hangs in some of the Kinnick Stadium suites, including a “big man on campus” Herky. His “Hawkeye expressionism” first showed up at an M.C. Ginsberg sidewalk show in 2006.

“I came up with two pieces and went around to see if any gallery had interest. It was hard,” said McNutt, who’s married (Beth) with two sons (Carter and Sawyer). “There was one that was kind of interested, but because of the Iowa Hawkeye thing, they were kind of on the fence. They liked them, but …

“My last stop was M.C. Ginsberg’s. They said, ‘Yeah, these are really cool, Can you have 15 of them by the artist walk?’”

All but two pieces sold.

McNutt, who wore the Herky mascot head in 1987-88, graduated from Iowa with a business degree. He started training as an artist while on a college marketing internship at Walt Disney Studios. He moved from Los Angeles to Iowa City in 1993 and enrolled in the graduate painting program.

“I’m sort of like a goofball,” McNutt said. “I have a business degree and there’s a commercial side. I enjoy the Hawkeyes and most people in the art department loathe the Hawkeyes. My training has been in fine art and it’s not commercial illustration. My stuff is fine arty. It’s been a different gig.”

When the Kinnick press box was demolished, McNutt, a sale representative by day, pounced on the recyclables. He crushes the Kinnick brick into a pigment for color and texture in his oil canvas paintings. He also found some old bleacher planks that he also uses.

Through Dale Ahrens, the UI’s director of the hall of fame and licensing, McNutt contacted Kaeding. Among signed jerseys, golf carts and ultimate Hawkeye season pass packages, McNutt’s paintings went for the most at the charity auction.

He’s raised more than $21,000 for the Russ and Ann Gerdin Hope Lodge for cancer patients through donating paintings from 2007-09.

This led to the FryFest folks asking him to “do what he does.” The Fry portrait, which McNutt describes as “photo realistic,” also is donated.

“He is one of the most generous people I’ve met,” said Josh Schamberger, president of the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, the organization hosting FryFest.

McNutt went through archives looking for a Fry image “that wasn’t seen over and over again, but at the same time was Hayden.

“I wanted to make it about him and have a ready-for-football thing,” McNutt said. “I referenced two or three different photos in the ‘80s. The painting ended up being just a straight on shot of him with his commander hat on and his sunglasses and he’s got this look, with the mouth kind of closed, like he’s getting ready battle.”

The original painting and a few prints will go into a silent auction that will be on display at the FryFest trade show, Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at The Exhibition Hall of the Coralville Marriott. Proceeds from the event will go toward the Coralville 4th Fest Committee for fireworks and Fourth of July celebrations.

The painting also has been turned into the official poster for the inaugural FryFest. They will be available for sale ($10) at the trade show and after at the Welcome Center of Coral Ridge Mall.

Out of the Kinnick press box rubble comes great art

Artist donating masterpiece

Brian Morelli • Iowa City Press-Citizen • May 8, 2009

Jeff McNutt's black-and-gold past has had a rebirth.

A one-time "Herky" mascot and a former University of Iowa art student, McNutt has returned to his roots. A bio-tech salesman by day, McNutt retreats to his Iowa City art studio and often paints the night away.

In a second-floor loft of an old mechanics' warehouse, McNutt has been exploring a unique art form he calls "Hawkeye expressionism." His paintings mainly feature Herky renderings, and he recently completed a large Nile Kinnick masterpiece.

What makes the work unique is that it includes pieces of the old Kinnick Stadium press box, which was demolished in 2005. For example, some paintings include dust from old Kinnick bricks and others are framed with old bench seating wood, including a seat number.

McNutt will donate the Kinnick piece to a favorite charity of former Iowa football and current San Diego Charger kicker Nate Kaeding. The charity is the Russell and Ann Gerdin Hope Lodge, which supports cancer victims.

"It just feels right," McNutt said of donating the painting he has been working on for the past five years.

The Kinnick piece will be on display at M.C. Ginsberg, 110 E. Washington St., for the next month before it is raffled off in a silent auction June 11 at Brown Deer Golf Course.

McNutt also is donating proceeds from a painting of former Iowa football coach Hayden Fry to the Hope Lodge. The painting, when finished, will be on display at M.C. Ginsberg's as well and at Fry Fest on Sept. 4.

McNutt has sold many pieces, mainly Herkys, over the past few years. M.C. Ginsberg hosts an art show each year with a collection of McNutt's work for sale.

Owner Mark Ginsberg said some might expect higher brow art in his jewelry store, but people take to McNutt's work and it sells. M.C. Ginsberg's has "exclusive representation" of McNutt's work.

"Desire defies reason. I don't know why people are attracted by certain things, but I respect the fact that they are," Ginsberg said. "The passion and love that goes into the work is enough for me (to show his work."

McNutt's art form took off several years ago.

McNutt, who lives in Iowa City with his wife, Beth, and his sons, Carter and Sawyer, approached the UI athletic department about retrieving scraps from the old Kinnick Stadium press box. About a dozen calls later, McNutt found a contractor willing to part with various remnants including bricks, long planks from stadium benches, metal scrap, press photographer booth signs and bathroom sinks.

His studio is full of the artifacts. Paints are scattered on a shelf spanning the length of the long, narrow room, while the opposite wall serves as a mount for several canvases.

Some day, he said he will find uses for all of it.

About five years ago, McNutt began working on a 5-foot by 3-foot canvas, brushing a nondescript background border. He began to see in the center the profile of Nile Kinnick, who he'd been researching at the time.

McNutt said he was trying to come up with something worthy of such a large canvas and he found it in Kinnick. McNutt painted a large portrait of the Hawkeye legend in the center and surrounded it with details, such as arches from Kinnick Stadium, stars symbolizing his military career and an action football shot.

"I started painting and it just came out as Nile," he said.