Larry Hofmann was born in Mankato and raised on his family farm north of Janesville (MN). Hofmann attended Mankato State University, graduating in 1968 with a BS degree, double major in Education and Painting. Hofmann fell in love with music and art in childhood, receiving formal music training through highschool. He entered college and pursued studies in art after deducing that as the "path of least resistance." Playing in bands through college and after graduation for nearly a decade, he transitioned to art in a fit of inspiration: photos he'd taken on a motorcycle trip through Wyoming in 1977. Imagining those pictures as large-scale paintings influenced him to quit the band and, with the help of his family, establish a studio space downtown. There, he made five large, airbrushed, photo-real western landscape paintings, three of which David Swanson - director of Mia at the time - serendipitously hung. When all three were purchased, Larry says he "suddenly became a professional artist." In 1981, Hofmann won the First Annual Competition for Representation Painting from Selkowitz Fine Art in New York. In 1991, Hofmann was a participant in the Hubbard Art Award for Excellence (Ruidoso, NM). In 2001, and again in 2017, he was awarded first place in Painting at the Minnesota State Fair Art Exhibition. Hofmann's paintings are included in the following corporate collections: United Healthcare Corporation, Norwest Investment Services, Minnesota Mutual Life, Honeywell, American Telephone & Telegraph, Cargill, Oxford Properties, First State Bank of Abilene, Saint Paul Companies, Securian, 3M, United Energy Resources, and MCC1 Development Company, and numerous private collections. After years in Minneapolis, Larry and his wife, Jan, now reside in Janesville on the family farm, Hofmann Apiaries, overseeing management and preservation of the property, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places having to do with honeybees.