Arts News
Ross Hier Exhibit + Artist Reception in Crookston
Please stop by an exhibit featuring work by Crookston artist Ross Hier from September 23-28 at the University of Minnesota Crookston. You are invited to an artist reception for Ross at the University of Minnesota Crookston on Monday, September 23 from 5:00-6:30 PM in Bede Ballroom with light hors d'oeuvres and beverages provided. The gallery, which will include items on display from the University's wildlife museum, will be open for viewing during daytime hours through September 28 and groups are welcome. If interested in bringing a group to campus, please contact Jess Bengtson at jessbeng@crk.umn.edu or call 218-281-8432.
Hier worked as an assistant area wildlife manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for 35 years and was an adjunct instructor at U of M Crookston for 15 years before retiring. He is a self-taught artist whose love of nature shines through in his watercolor and acrylic paintings, drawings, and duck decoys.
Hier’s art has been showcased at a number of exhibits in several states and he has won regional and national awards including the Northwest Artist of the Year by the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council in 2022 and the Jay N. “Ding” Darling Memorial National Award by The National Wildlife Society for Wildlife Stewardship through Art in 2020. He was also a featured artist on Prairie Public TV in 2023.
To learn more about Hier, visit https://crk.umn.edu/news/u-m-crookston-feature-artist-ross-h-hier-gallery-and-reception-september-23-28
Crookston Artist and 2022 Artist of the Year Ross Hier featured in Prairie Mosaic Video
Watch this Prairie Mosaic video featuring Crookston Wildlife Artist and 2022 Artist of the Year Ross Hier. https://youtu.be/US4WLCBQ93k
Tending the Creative Soul with Ross Hier April 12
For our next TCS we will have birder and fellow artist Ross Hier. Ross will share about his February birding adventure in Costa Rica as well as his lifelong bird artwork.
Like art, birds reveal a spot of beauty with their plumes and songs and allow us to escape the stressful and mundane. Ross has captured the simplicity, as well as the complexity of birds.
Ross’s love of nature from a young age led him to a career as a wildlife biologist. He retired after 35 years with the Minnesota DNR Wildlife Section. A self-taught artist, he thoroughly enjoys the versatility of transparent watercolors. Nature provides him with unlimited subject material. Many of his subject ideas arose after observing some interaction in nature, landscape, or creatures. “I am drawn more to days when life wasn’t so driven by technology and was lived at a slower pace.“
Our next TCS is April 12, 5:00 PM via Zoom. Reach out to Trey for a Zoom invite. Everyone is welcome to attend!