Walter Matia was educated at Williams College in Massachusetts, where he earned degrees in Biology and Art Design. Much of his training was attained during a long apprenticeship in the Exhibits Department of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

After leaving the Cleveland Museum, Walter worked for eleven years with the Nature Conservancy, a national non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of endangered species and unique habitats. He served as the organization’s vice president in charge of land management.

He began casting bronze sculptures in 1980. Initially, he concentrated on bird life, over the years he has worked on sporting dogs and other mammals. In 1987 he began a series of large fountain and garden pieces. In 1989 the Blair House Restoration Committee placed one of his fountains in the formal garden of the United States President’s Guest House. To complement the fountain, Walter produced a bronze wall frieze for the Blair House in 1992.

His works have been exhibited in one man shows at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art. He is regular participant of the Society of Animal Artists; National Sculpture Society; Masters of the American West; Coors Western Art and Prix de West Invitational. Walter is a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society and a Master Signature Member of the Society of Animal Artists. He received the National Sculpture Society’s 2003 Gold Medal Award for “Large Great Blue Heron Pair”; the 2005 Bronze Medal Award Pietro & Alfriedo Montana Memorial Prize for “A Fool for Love”; the 2006 Society of Animal Artists Leo J. Meiselman Award for “Molly is a Working Girl”; the 2006 Prix de West Fraser Sculpture Award and the 2007 Masters of the American West, Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation Sculpture Award for the“Promise of Spring”. In 2007 Walter received the honor of Master Wildlife Artist by the prestigious Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museums “Birds in Art”.

His sculptures have toured with various shows to dozens of museums both in the United States and abroad. Major outdoor commissions include: the Wichita Kansas Botanical Gardens, Wichita, KS; Benson Park Sculpture Gardens, Loveland, CO; American University, Washington D.C.; Deerwood Office Park, Jacksonville, FL; and the National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson Hole, WY. In 1988 Walter was commissioned to sculpt the Merrill Lynch Bull at a scale of 1 ½ times life-size, which was cast and installed at the corporate regional offices in Florida, New Jersey and Colorado. In 2002 he was commissioned by the NFL Houston Texans to design and sculpt six bronze Spanish fighting bulls for the entrances to the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The “Spirit of the Bull” monument was dedicated September 2003. In 2004 Walter completed a twelve foot diameter bronze sundial commissioned by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History which depicts the Evolution of Life. In 2006 Walter accepted The English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association commission for a life size English Springer Spaniel installed at the Bird Dog Hall of Fame in Kentucky.

Walter currently serves on the board of the American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester, VT and the American Bird Conservancy in The Plains, VA. He resides in Dickerson, Maryland with his wife Dr. Pamela Matia, daughter Helen, son Charlie and dog Belle.