Arts News
Artist Reception Iron and Feathers Thursday, August 13 from 6:00 to 7:30
Artist Reception for
Iron and Feathers: Art of the Northwest
an exhibit featuring paintings by Ross Hier and Beau Bakken
Open Through August
at the
Historic Fournet Building, 101 N Broadway
Downtown Crookston
2nd Floor in the Atrium
Artist Reception Thursday, August 13 from 6 to 7:30 PM
Violin Music by Eden Johnson of Lake Bronson
Please join the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council (NWMAC) for an artist reception for Iron and Feathers: Art of the Northwest an exhibit featuring paintings by Ross Hier and Beau Bakken at the Historic Fournet Building downtown Crookston. This exhibit includes 35 original pieces of art in watercolor on paper and acrylic on canvas, most of which are for sale.
The Artist Reception will be on Thursday, August 13 from 6 to 7:30 PM. Refreshments will be served. Live music will be provided by Violinist Eden Johnson of Lake Bronson. Everyone is welcome to attend this FREE event.
Artist Beau Bakken. Beau Bakken of Hallock has been professionally creating art by commission since 2008. Beau has been a consistent entrant into NWMAC’s exhibits and won 1st place in the annual NW Minnesota Art Exhibit in 2011, 2014, and 2022, and given a People’s Choice award in 2025. He won the Artist of the Year in 2016. Beau was the featured artist in the Around the Farm exhibit at our gallery in Thief River Falls. His work consists of large outdoor murals, outdoor business signs, indoor murals, and indoor wall hangings and paintings. About his 8 pieces of work in the exhibit, Beau said, “My paintings in this exhibit are captures of the Red River Valley, painted with the hope that fellow citizens of the valley would find them relatable.”
Artist Ross Hier. Ross H. Hier attended the University of Minnesota earning a BS in Wildlife Management and had a 35-year career with the Section of Wildlife in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. His time was spent researching mallards, ring-necked ducks, and the Lesser scaup, as well as managing wildlife management areas in Polk and Red Lake Counties. Nature has excited him for as long as he can remember and his creative need to express this love led him to watercolor painting. He shared, “Northwest Minnesota is such a diverse piece of geography … native grasslands, the Aspen Parklands and transition zone between prairie and forest landscapes interspersed with agricultural tracts. The ancient Lake Agassiz beach lines are quite profound on the east side of the Red River Valley and serve as linear maps for migrant birds where substantial grasslands and wetlands serve as stop-over areas for birds moving further north. The diversity of nature in northwest Minnesota is amazing. Nature has always been a force that triggers my creative thought process. I love painting with watercolors for their elusive nature and spontaneity.”
Ross continued, “It’s an honor to exhibit in the town I have long resided in and to share this exhibit with the outstanding artist, Beau Bakken. His work never ceases to amaze me. This exhibit presents the viewers with two different artists who use different painting mediums and rather different styles. I hope the exhibit brings viewers much joy and thankfulness as we celebrate the premier region of Minnesota through art. Thanks to the Northwest Arts Council and especially Exhibit Specialist Trey Everett.” Twenty-seven works in the exhibit were created by Ross.
You can find both Ross and Beau in our most recent Artists of NW Minnesota booklet.
Musician Eden Johnson lives in Lake Bronson with her husband and their three daughters. Depending on the day one might find Eden either accompanying her local Lutheran church, watching musicals with her family, reading, giving violin lessons, or practicing on one of her instruments. While her main focus and passion is the violin, Eden also sings, plays the piano, and is currently learning the harp. The violin Eden plays once belonged to her great grandmother. Eden recently completed the NWMAC Teaching Artist Training and is available for residencies and workshops.
You won't want to miss this exhibit open through August at the Fournet Building, 101 N Broadway, Downtown Crookston. Parking and admission is free. Take the stairs or elevator to the second floor where the gallery is located in the atrium. Open Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 4:30 PM.
Watch this video for a virtual tour of the exhibit at https://youtu.be/emdN39orEZE or find it on our website under the exhibits tab at the top of the homepage.
For more information about this exhibit, visit our website at NWArtsCouncil.org, or if you are an artist interested in exhibiting a body of work with NWMAC, please contact Trey Everett at (218) 280-4917 or email NWArtsCouncil@gmail.com. Please sign up for our e-newsletter on our website home page to see the latest news and grant announcements.
Email director@NWArtsCouncil.org or call 218-745-8886 to reach our office during regular business hours.
Cohort of Artists Added to NWMAC’s Teaching Artist Roster
The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council is Excited to Announce 14 New Artists Available for Residencies
Fourteen area artists recently completed the Northwest Minnesota Art Council’s teaching artist training and are available for school and community residencies. Northwest Minnesota Arts Council is proud to now promote a roster of 23 local artists trained in our Teaching Artist Roster Program (TARP).
This new cohort of artists include visual artists Alyssa Aune of Gatzke, Beau Bakken of Hallock, Trey Everett of Crookston, Amy Fuglestad of Crookston, Samantha Harrill of Warroad, Jill Levene of Warren, Caylie Nicholson of Hallock, Gail Ose of Thief River Falls, Jodi Peterson of Moorhead who teaches in Ada, Jessica Ross of Fisher, Mandy Smestad of East Grand Forks, and Acacia Winters of Thief River Falls; and performing artists Eden Johnson of Lake Bronson and Megan Maloney of Thief River Falls.
They join Kristin Eggerling of Hallock, Christine Foster of Thief River Falls, Janet Johnson of Roseau, Jolene Juhl of Greenbush, Cindy Kolling of Gully, Misti Koop of East Grand Forks, Aliza Novacek-Olson of Roseau, Stephanie Olson of Thief River Falls, and Elizabeth Rockstad of Ada.
Residences and multi-day workshops offered are in ceramics, storytelling, writing, visual arts, violin, self-portraits, watercolor or acrylic painting, mural painting, creative expression, glass fusing, encaustic art, mixed media, collaborative design and technical theater, performing arts, textiles, mosaic, printmaking, and more.
To view the roster and learn more about the artists (including how to contact them) visit our website at:
https://northwestminnesotaartscouncil.org/tarp-artists. Or click on Artists at the top of our website and then click on Teaching Artists List.
The Teaching Artist Roster Program (TARP) is designed to support artists (visual, performing, writing, media, fine art) in refining and developing skills for conducting collaborative, in-depth arts learning experiences in organizations, community settings, and schools. Artists applied and a cohort was selected to participate in this training. Artists interested in being added to the roster can apply this Fall to be in the next group going through the mainly online training of seven sessions.
These artists learned valuable skills and tools to best teach their creative practice. The training helped them to expand the ways they apply their craft, belong to a network of fellow teaching artists who serve as resources, mentors and peers, and employ strategies that contribute to success as a teaching artist.
Schools and festivals can apply for funding to sponsor these local artists to come into their school for residencies or to their festival for a workshop experience over a couple days. Artists on the roster have created a residency plan with lesson plans, materials list, and other documents that take most of the work out of applying.
Schools can apply for an Artist Residency grant of $3,000 as early as this fall through our on-line grant system. The Login to create a user and start an application is in the upper right corner of our website.To apply, schools fill out an application showing interest in funding, then requests are made with add-on forms within the on-line grant software for specific project funding requests. Each residency requires a minimum 10% cash match. Funding for residency activities comes from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment in Minnesota. School residencies are first come, first served grants to school districts in our seven-county area. You will need to contact the artist directly to schedule the residency.
Festivals within our seven county service area can apply for our July 31, October 31, February 28 or April 30 deadlines to include artists in what they are offering the public with grant funding in the arts. There is a minimum 10% cash match.
Please contact Northwest Minnesota Arts Council in Warren with any questions about this TARP program, to receive a flyer in the mail with the artists available, or to receive grant funding to bring one of these teaching artists into your school or festival. The NWMAC phone number is 218-745-8886 ext 1 and email is director@nwartscouncil.org.
NW Art Exhibit & Of the Year Award Reception and Program
Our annual Awards reception and program was held on Sunday, April 21 at the Kittson County History Museum. The exhibit opened at noon that day. Mingling and refreshments started at 2:00 PM along with live music by Eagle Creek and Eden Rowan Johnson.
The Awards Program started at 3 PM.
Of the Year Awards were presented to Potter Betsy Saurdiff for the NW Star Award -- Lifetime Achievement, Musician Randy Larson for Artist of the Year, and Radio Host Rom Ogaard for Arts Advocate of the Year, in addition to exhibit awards. Randy Larson performed 2 songs with his adult children.
The Exhibit and Reception were open to the public and free to attend. The exhibit provides an opportunity to see what our regional adult and student artists are creating in their studio spaces and in the classroom. The reception was a wonderful day of celebrating the arts in our region.