Artist and Alumna Gail Folwell to Address DU Graduate Commencement

In 1979, Gail Folwell (BFA ’83) and her brother Toby (BS ’82) drove a Ford Torino from their hometown of Guelph, Ontario, to the University of Denver. Colorado’s mountains beckoned to the pair, but it was DU’s art and design program that captured Gail’s full attention.

Over the next four years, the things she learned and the people she met took her on a journey that has extended far beyond her time at DU—and will bring her back on June 12 as this year’s graduate commencement speaker.

From the start, one of her most influential mentors was art professor Judy Anderson, whose art can be found in museum collections around the world. Folwell describes her as “singularly the most brilliant creative and influential artist” in her life.

After graduating in 1983, Folwell started a career in design, homing in on graphics and illustration for sports-related industries—a natural fit given her passion for skiing, mountain biking, and, more generally, the human experience and movement. Outside of the studio, Folwell was also competing in mountain bike racing and recreational ski racing at the time.

Ten years into Folwell’s career, Professor Anderson reached out unexpectedly—she was leaving Denver to lead the art department at the University of Washington and needed someone to teach her classes pro tempore while DU searched for a full-time replacement. Folwell accepted the invitation.

While teaching at DU, she began to explore other mediums, including sculpture, which would become the main focus of her career as an artist. “That time changed everything for me,” she says. “My first experience working with oil-based clay on an armature was like discovering a language I already knew. It unleashed a voice that I had to explore.”

Finding her muse—and her path

Folwell immersed herself in the discipline of sculpture, studying the human body and movement. Initially, she says, she was driven by the desire to capture the intangibles of competitive sport—a baseball pitcher’s focus, a skier’s dance with the limits of perception, and, in hockey or golf, visualizing a shot landing before it happens.

“I like the focus, the adrenaline, the transcendence of sports. I make art, and there is no better muse for that than an athlete,” she says.

The art world, she soon discovered, did not always share her enthusiasm for her chosen subject. Athletics had a place in stadiums, not museums, or such was the prevailing sentiment among “serious” art circles, she says—but she nonetheless pursued it with alacrity.

“It’s my mission to change the perception of sports art,” she says. “The athlete is a zeitgeist and unifying force in our cultural landscape. I am interested in elevating how sport is expressed, represented, and perceived in contemporary fine art. I want to connect the power of art to athletes, and the power of athletes to art.”

Folwell’s first major breakthrough came in 2008, when she completed “The Edge,” a twice-life-sized bronze skier that was installed at the base of Vail Mountain Plaza. 

From the beginning, commissioned work suited her approach. “I didn’t enjoy relying on a gallery,” she says. “I like having deadlines, agency, and clients—the collaboration and problem-solving inspires me.”

Since then, Folwell’s works have found their way into the Denver Art Museum; the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio; the University of Notre Dame; and Dr. Pepper Ballpark in Texas, among other sites across the country. Most recently, she completed a project for Denver’s National Western Complex and Legacy Center. The installation includes “Take the Lead,” a dynamic sculpture of three horses vying for position that also honors the branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, and “Forging Ahead,” an etched-stone mural inspired by a historic photograph of cowboys driving longhorns through downtown Denver.

Coming full circle

Now, Folwell and her work are returning to DU.

Through a partnership with the Denver Art Museum, a collection of seven sculptures will be installed on campus over the next year and a half. Folwell’s “In the Peloton” is the first piece in the series and is being installed near the Ritchie Center.

The museum’s inclusion of the work led Folwell to a connection with Chancellor Jeremy Haefner—and a shared perspective on the power of sports and art to move people.

“In the Peloton” embodies that idea, capturing a tightly packed group of cyclists drafting off one another, a study in motion, tension, and collective energy.

“There are 100 guys packed into this posse, all jostling for position, and if one screws up, everybody goes down,” Folwell says. “That’s what I was sculpting—how that chaos transforms into a kind of flow state.”

Folwell didn’t think there was an honor higher than having her work displayed on the campus that launched her career—until she was invited to speak at commencement. “It’s beyond fathom,” she says. “I can’t thank DU, Judy Anderson, and Chancellor Jeremy Haefner enough.”

As she prepares to address the 2026 class of DU graduate students, she reflects on the environment that helped shape her own path—one that encouraged exploration, curiosity, and imagination. 

“DU has many accomplished students who really put themselves out there, and there are a lot of quiet, more introverted geniuses here, too,” she says. “Everybody finds their place here.”

DU will host two ceremonies for doctoral and master’s candidates on June 12 in Magness Arena. The Crimson Ceremony will take place at 9:30 a.m., and the Gold Ceremony will take place at 2:30 p.m. Click here for more details.