Larry E. Elsner was a world renowned art professor who taught at Utah State University from 1960 until 1990. Larry was born in 1930 in the southern Idaho community of Gooding and was raised in the surroundings of his family's ranch. The environment of Larry's childhood home deeply impressed itself upon his visual memory. Its expansive night sky; its seasons, rocks, and wind; its seed and animals; the patterns and textures of its earth; and its quietness helped define the perimeter of Larry's youthful world. Years later, the essence of this place would help shape Larry's artistic universe as its characteristics emerged with infinite variety and interpretation in his works.

Elsner attended the University of Idaho from 1948 to 1951 before serving in the United States Navy from 1953 to 1955. After his return, he attended Utah State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. Only a year later, he received his master’s degree in Fine Arts from Columbia University.

A quiet, thoughtful person, his natural inclination was toward modesty rather than self-promotion, regardless of his undeniable talent or the stature of his achievements. As an artist, he was primarily concerned with the process of making sculptural forms -- forms that would speak softly and with eloquence to anyone who would like to listen. He was also a gifted teacher who shared his knowledge of the visual arts, and sculpture, in particular, through the courses he taught at Utah State University. During his tenure as a professor in the Art Department, Larry taught anatomy, drawing, ceramics, metalsmithing, jewelry casting and sculpture in all media.

Familiar examples of Larry's artworks are the elegantly-shaped sculpture and vessel forms he crafted in clay, metal, and wood. To enrich these forms, Larry worked in other media to generate new ideas or fresh approaches to his materials. Drawing was particularly important because the process functioned as an independent means of expression and a discipline through which Larry invented, explored and clarified ideas about form. Although Larry produced hundreds of exquisitely-drawn studies during the course of his career, this aspect of his work is relatively unknown.

After a long career, Larry Elsner passed away in his home on March 27, 1990 at age 59 in Logan, Utah.