Randall Raduenz’s passion for art began at a young age. In grade school, he got in a bit of trouble for selling his work to his peers. “Well, actually, I wasn’t selling it—they were giving me their lunch money,” he says. “That really didn’t go over too well.”
Despite the early misfire, the lifelong Stillwater resident has made a successful career through painting for more than 40 years. The 1970 graduate of Stillwater Area High School went to art school and started painting professionally in the 1980s. In 1999, he founded the Stillwater Art Guild Gallery, a cooperative space on Main Street.
While he’s worked in wildlife photorealism and other styles, Raduenz is perhaps best known in the area for his murals. He’s painted at least 30, and says 26 or 27 of those are in Stillwater. “They’re all over the place,” he says. His first mural commission was in the early 1970s, when he worked on the Lowell Inn.
When Raduenz isn’t working on commissioned paintings, he enjoys spending time with his kids and his granddaughter. His roots in Stillwater stretch back to his grandfather, and he enjoys giving back to the community through his work. “This is my home; I never left,” Raduenz says. “I love this town.”
Stillwater Art Guild Gallery
402 N. Main St.
651.689.0149
