David Frank Giese Jr.

1945 - 2025

David Frank Giese Jr.

October 3, 1945 - May 2, 2025

Moscow, Idaho - David Frank Giese Jr., 79, an artist and educator who challenged and inspired a generation of University of Idaho students, died May 2, 2025, at Kootenai Health in Coeur d'Alene. He was surrounded by friends and colleagues during the final days of a long illness.

Giese was a renowned sculptor whose works inspired by a mythical Italian villa were in high demand by collectors. In Moscow, he was best remembered as the guiding force behind the imaginative paper floats that led Mardi Gras parades in the late 1980s and early 1980s. He received an Idaho governor's award for Excellence in the Arts in 2010.

A celebration of his life will take place in February 2026 in conjunction with the Moscow Mardi Gras.

"David was a pillar of our college and a profoundly influential figure in the broader artistic landscape," said Shauna Corry, dean of the UI's College of Art and Architecture. "He was revered by all students in the college, regardless of their discipline."

Giese developed the college's foundation art courses taken by all majors, which alumni view as a transformational learning experience that benefited their careers.

He was born Oct. 3, 1945, in Fargo, North Dakota, to Edel and David F. Giese Sr. He earned an associate's degree from Austin Junior College and two bachelor's degrees from Mankato State University, both in Minnesota. He completed a Master of Fine Arts in ceramics, photography and design from the University of Arizona. After teaching for five years at Alverno College in Milwaukee, he came to the UI in 1977, joining what was then the Department of Art and Architecture.

In 1982, the department opened the Prichard Gallery on Main Street as a showcase for art by faculty and students as well as touring exhibits. Giese and other community members saw the Mardi Gras celebration in late February as a way to raise money for the gallery and brighten an otherwise dull (and often gloomy) weekend on the Palouse.

Using milk-carton paper from the then Potlatch Corp. paper mill in Lewiston, Giese's students created large "floats," that were carried down Main Street in the signature Mardi Gras Parade. The parade was followed by afternoon music in various venues and the signature Beaux Arts black-and-white ball at the UI's Student Union Building ballroom.

The Mardi Gras was one of several events that contributed to Moscow's cultural renaissance in the 1980s. But Giese's reputation as an artist reached around the world. Between 1966 and 2011, he created 24 solo exhibits at major museums and galleries and participated in more than 200 group shows. His work was included in a 1983 exhibit, "Sawtooths and Other Ranges of the Imagination: Contemporary from Idaho," at the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C.

His signature works were "ruins" from the mythical Villa Bittricci, created from cast concrete and molded plaster, They combined various styles in humorous ways to "depict the rise and fall of taste" in design history, he wrote.

On a sabbatical from the UI, he was an artist-in-residence at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in 1990-1991. Giese chaired the UI's Department of Art and Design from 1992 to 1996, before giving up administrative duties to devote more time to his increasingly complex exhibition schedule. He retired from the university in 2011 but continued to create and produce art until his recent illness.

At his Moscow home, Giese cultivated a European atmosphere through ornate decorations, magnificent floral displays, and a lush garden terrace. He was a celebrated host who welcomed visiting artists, musicians and friends to soirees.

For the last several years of his life, David was involved with the recovery community on the Palouse and was a strong supporter of the Latah Recovery Center. He also enjoyed attending the Spokane Symphony with his friend Ryan Booth.

David's sisters, Sandra and Karyn, died previously. David leaves behind many close friends, including Noah Kroese, Jamal Lyksett, Elsie Sakuma, Melanie Menke, Darryl Furtkamp and Esther Louie, as well as his former colleagues from the UI, George Wray, Bill Bowler and Jackie Wright, Bill and Donna Woolston, Jill and Ray Dacey, Delphine Kiem, Val and Jackie Carter, Aaron Johnson, Sally Machlis, Roger Rowley, Wendy McClure, and Shauna Corry. Other friends are Landon Roper and Laura Krogman, from whose wedding David created an artwork, and Breanna Sipley. Former students including Mark Engberg, Michael Stueve, and Johnthan Segal remained longtime friends throughout David's life.

Remembrances can be made in the form of contributions to David's endowment at the University of Idaho, the "David Giese Fellowship for Interdisciplinary Studies," and to the Latah Recovery Community, 531 S. Main Street, Moscow.