April Werle (b. 1995, Montana) is a narrative painter depicting mixed-race identity, memory, and diaspora through magical realism and intimate domestic scenes. Her recent solo exhibitions include I Live With a Ghost, PlatteForum; My Other Half, The Chase Gallery; and Secret Life of a Multicultural Couple, Bell Projects. Her work has also been exhibited at Brea Gallery and the Montana Museum of Art and Culture. Werle completed a residency at PlatteForum and the Emerging Artist Residency at Centrum Foundation. She was awarded the Creative West Artist Fund Award, as well as the ARPA Grant and the Strategic Investment Grant from the Montana Arts Council. Her work has been published in Create! Magazine and New Visionary Magazine.
April Werle’s paintings feature disembodied hand characters experiencing life in quiet, colorful settings that contrast with their grayscale forms. Viewers are invited into intimate, close-up moments depicting nostalgic memories—scenes that portray the fundamental experiences shaping the characters' sense of self. Inspired by family memories and the search for belonging, Werle’s work references cultural images and narratives around idealized families and confused self-image. Windows, mirrors, and screens recur as both reflective surfaces and barriers within her narratives. Distorted space and color placement signal the possibility that something is being romanticized. Acrylic on stained and whitewashed wood, her work is an exploration of memory and the evolving awareness of racial identity.
Solo Exhibitions
2026 (forthcoming) Our Sometimes Home, Glacier Art Museum, Kalispell, MT
2025 I Live With a Ghost, PlatteForum, Denver, CO
2025 My Other Half, Chase Gallery, Spokane, WA
2024 Secret Life of a Multicultural Couple, Bell Projects, Denver, CO
2023 Halo-Halo: The Mixed Children, Zootown Arts Community Center, Missoula, MT
2022 Mga Hunghong Sa Diwata (Whispers of Spirits), Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT
Selected Group Exhibitions
2026 Mixed Feelings: Existing in the Space Between, Brea Gallery, Brea, CA
2025 Brown Palms, Yellow Balms: Reinventing Caregivers of Color, SOMArts, San Francisco, CA; curated by O.M. France Viana
2025 19 Under 39, Montana Museum of Art and Culture, Missoula, MT
2024 - 2022 Co-Flourish Touring Exhibition by Open AIR, MT
2023 Acts of Liberation, The Other Art Fair LA, Santa Monica, CA; curated by Taylor Bythewood-Porter
2022 Imaging the Sacred, Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT
Selected Awards
2025 Artist-in-Residence, PlatteForum
2024 Emerging Artist Residency, Centrum
2024 Artist Fund Award, Creative West
2023 Strategic Investment Grant, Montana Arts Council
2022 ARPA Grant, Montana Arts Council
Selected Bibliography
2024 Create! Magazine, Issue 47
2024 Artwork Archive, “Why This Artist’s ‘Hands-on’ Depiction of Mixed-Race Stories Is So Powerful”
2024 Art Squat Magazine, Issue 9
2024 Mahalaya, “Between Manila and Montana: April Werle’s Artistic Exploration of Mixed-Race Identity, Belonging, and Family”
2024 State of the Arts, Winter Issue. Montana Arts Council
2023 New Visionary Magazine, Issue 8
Selected Artist Talks/Visits
2025 Artist Talk, 19 Under 39 Exhibition, Montana Museum of Art and Culture
2024 Keynote Speaker, Asian Student Interracial Association, Montana State University
Professional Affiliations
2023 - Present Asian American Women Artists Association
Education
2017 BFA, University of Montana