Our Gallery

Please join us for an Artist Reception for our current exhibit at NCTC on November 21.

Immersed in Color Inspired by Culture an exhibit open through November 21. This colorful exhibit includes 29 pieces of art created by four artists in acrylic, watercolor, beading, collage, and an award-winning hockey stick design.

NWMAC Showcase Specialist Trey Everett explained, "Our latest exhibit features three Native American Minnesota artists and one non-Native artist. It's a fantastic display of multifaceted creativity. Acrylic, watercolor, beading, mixed media, and college are all part of this unique exhibit." 

You won't want to miss this incredible exhibit open through November 21 at the NWMAC Gallery at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls. An artist reception will be held on Thursday, November 21 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Refreshments will be served. This event is free and everyone is welcome to attend. Please join us!

The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council Announces

Immersed in Color Inspired by Culture

Open Through Thursday, November 21

Featuring the Artwork of Shawna Boulette Grapentine

With Joan Kauppi, Therese Masters Jacobson, and Candace Sam

Northwest Minnesota Arts Council Gallery

NCTC in Thief River Falls

Artist Reception Thurs, Nov 21 from 5:30 -7:30 PM

 The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council (NWMAC) is pleased to announce the opening of Immersed in Color Inspired by Culture an exhibit open through November 21. This colorful exhibit includes 29 pieces of art created by four artists in acrylic, watercolor, beading, collage, and an award-winning hockey stick design.

NWMAC Showcase Specialist Trey Everett explained, "Our latest exhibit features three Native American Minnesota artists and one non-Native artist. It's a fantastic display of multifaceted creativity. Acrylic, watercolor, beading, mixed media, and college are all part of this unique exhibit." 

You won't want to miss this incredible exhibit open through November at the NWMAC Gallery at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls. An artist reception will be held on Thursday, November 21 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Refreshments will be served and everyone is welcome to attend this free event.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Artist Shawna Boulette Grapentine is a Cree-Ojibway from the Metis community of Manigotagan and is a member of the Hollow Water First Nation. She is known for using silhouettes of nature and vibrant colors in her custom paintings. Shawna’s artwork highlights the beauty of the indigenous culture, her love for mother earth and everything that surrounds her. She is the featured artist in this exhibit.

Candace Sam is from Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and White Fish Bay First Nations, Ontario. Her mixed media piece in the exhibit is a replica of a drum and is untitled. 

Therese Masters Jacobson of Alvarado has four watercolor and two acrylic portraits. Therese said, "My paintings and drawings are usually water-based acrylics, watercolor, or pen and ink. I paint commissions on request."

Joan Kauppi is an enrolled member of the Red Lake Nation and is an Anishinaabe businesswoman. She explained that her collage pieces in the exhibit are esemplastic -- having the ability to shape diverse elements or concepts into a unified whole. “The pieces I create are simple, often pairing opposing scale, different eras, backgrounds and focal points. The transformation of merging images changes the story through simplicity.”

Watch this video for a virtual tour of the exhibit at youtu.be/UxaVpsctorQ.

The NWMAC Gallery is located at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls. The gallery hours are Monday-Friday from 8 - 5 PM and at other times when events are held at the college. Please call to make sure the college is open before making a special trip. Hours can change. Enter through Door B, which is right next to the gallery. Visitor parking is free. 

For more information about this exhibit 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.

Please join us for an artist reception on Wednesday, September 18 from 5 to 7 PM at the NWMAC Gallery at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls. Take advantage of the opportunity to tour our current exhibit The Portrait Gallery and meet the artists who created this body of work — Pamela Edevold, Jessica Ross, Therese Masters Jacobson, and Heidi Danos. Some of the art is available to purchase. Snacks and drinks will be provided. There is no charge for this event and everyone is welcome to attend!

Artist Pamela Edevold will give a special presentation at 5:30 PM about the Native portraits. You won’t want to miss this!

The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council Announces

The Portrait Gallery

Open Until September 30

Featuring the Artwork of Pamela Edevold, Heidi Danos,

Therese Masters Jacobson, and Jessica Ross

Northwest Minnesota Arts Council Gallery

NCTC in Thief River Falls through September 2024

Artist Reception Sept 18 from 5 to 7 PM with a special presentation by Pamela Edevold at 5:30 PM

The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council (NWMAC) is pleased to announce the opening of The Portrait Gallery open through September 30. This gallery exhibits 33 portraits in acrylic, watercolor, digital, and colored pencils created by four area artists. Ten of the portraits are of Native American Dancers and 13 are of dogs, cats, chickens and a horse.

You won't want to miss this incredible exhibit open through September at the NWMAC Gallery at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls. Many of the portraits are for sale.

Pamela Edevold is a realist artist specializing in portraiture and figurative painting. In this exhibit she is showcasing ten acrylic paintings featuring local Anishinaabe dancers of all ages, accompanied by their narratives of the cultural and personal meaning of their regalia. Each dancer's narrative consists of information they provided to the artist, and Pamela purposely refrained from undertaking any personal research so she wouldn't be tempted to add or subtract from what was given. All the dancers were extremely generous with sharing their images and information. Photo sessions with the dancers took place during powwows held at the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shing School and the July Onigum Powwow, and one model traveled from Naytahwaush to Bagley to be interviewed and photographed. Pamela is originally from Grafton, North Dakota and lives in Bagley now. Learn more by attending her presentation during the Artist Reception at 5:30 PM on September 18.

Fosston artist Heidi Danos has four digital portraits in this exhibit. She explained, "Creating helps me shut out the noise, and sometimes even capture it. I enjoy exploring different mediums and don’t foresee myself getting boxed into a single style anytime soon, if ever.”

Therese Masters Jacobson of Alvarado has four watercolor and two acrylic portraits. Therese said, "Since relocating to northern Minnesota at fifty, I’ve continued to enjoy life as a painter, art teacher, and living an artful life in my seventies. I’ve exhibited in both group and solo exhibits in Bemidji, Fosston, Moorhead, Grand Forks, Grand Rapids, Thief River Falls, East Grand Forks, and Crookston. My paintings and drawings are usually water-based acrylics, watercolor, or pen and ink. I paint commissions on request."

Jessica Ross of Thief River Falls has 13 animal portraits in this exhibit. Jessica shared, "My companion portraits take colored pencils to a different level using both fixed and malleable qualities, with loose under tones and detailed markings. Each portrait is unique and being able to commemorate these important family members gives me a sense of pride. I believe our lives are forever changed by their presence."

Watch this video for a virtual tour of the exhibit at youtu.be/sscycjJdSII.

An Artist Reception will be held at the gallery from 5 to 7PM on Wednesday, September 18. Drinks and snacks will be available and there is no cost to attend.

The NWMAC Gallery is located at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls. The gallery hours are Monday-Friday from 8 - 5 PM and at other times when events are held at the college. Please call to make sure the college is open before making a special trip. Summer hours can change. Enter through Door B, which is right next to the gallery. Visitor parking is free.

For more information about this exhibit our website at www.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.

The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council Announces

Awareness: within and without

May 30 – July 31

Featuring Artwork by Cindy Kolling and Gail Ose

Northwest Minnesota Arts Council Gallery

NCTC in Thief River Falls through July 2024

Artist Reception Wednesday, July 10 from 6 – 8 PM

The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council (NWMAC) is pleased to announce the opening of Awareness: within and without. This exhibit features 54 pieces of artwork by Gully Visual Artist Cindy Kolling and Thief River Falls Visual Artist Gail Ose and is open through July at the NWMAC Gallery at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls.

Showcase Specialist Trey Everett shared, “Cindy Kolling is a master at capturing the life cycle of plants through her pen and ink and silkscreen artistry. Gail Ose's visionary and highly symbolic work is a fascinating process as well as mesmerizing to gaze into. This exhibit is a complementary combination of two distinct styles which give careful attention to the form and the formless, what is without and what is within."

Cindy Kolling’s work includes two sets of 12 silkscreen prints of the life cycle of native plants white sage and blazing star plus other work. These are different handprints of one plant in a continuing series originating from pen & ink drawings of Cindy’s that reference her field sketches, artist’s photos, and observation experiences.

No two handprints are alike and there are no more. These original prints may be released as high quality digital reproductions later, as determined by the artist ,but the original handprint is unique and unable to be done the same again. Cindy explained, “I want to make new art that invites viewers to expand their participation in life by developing and sharing appreciation and to consider our local world with fresh insight.”

Cindy continued, “I am not a medium purist and incorporate carefully researched information into the creation of my works, most of which are created in series. Much of what I do involves fine line technical pen drawing. My drawings almost always begin with some kind of in-field observations and sketches; and very often reference my photographs. The drawings are not meant to be technical or even very realistic renderings but do have interpretive accuracy to start with and evolve from there. Many of my drawings are taken further into hand printed pieces. I often work on carefully selected recycled fiber paper with quiet colors of hand-screened inks. My frames are repurposed “thrift store finds”, or custom-made by an area woodworker from reclaimed wood. I like mixing the old and new concepts to create something fresh. It is the result of experimenting with what one has; what one knows, and where one wants to go. The process is a work in progress.”

Gail Ose is a visionary artist and founder of Serendipity Art Hub based in Thief River Falls, where she lives on a farm with her husband, LeRoy, and their two Great Pyrenees dogs Carly and Thor. In her studio classroom and workshops, Gail offers painting classes taught from the perspective of Heart, Soul, and Spirit while nurturing authentic, creative expressions regardless of talent or experience. Gail weaves her passion for creativity and spiritual connection into her painting practice and throughout her life and leads others into uncharted areas of their creativity, both inward and outward, to live and create more authentically.

She explained, “I am honored to be paired with Cindy Kolling as one of the showcase artists in this exhibit and very grateful to the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council for supporting me and working with me in my endeavor to bring this dream of mine into the light as an emerging artist. It is my sincere hope that my paintings touch and inspire something inside visitors as they explore their unique images. Each of my portal paintings are sacred acts of allowing myself to be a vehicle for sharing an energetic message and each is infused with symbolic meaning designed to carry a specific energy of intention cohesive to its message. Each of my portal paintings are exercises in communing with spirit to bring forth the unseen realm and bridge it with the visible in the form of a painting. My portal paintings usually have a lot of symbology that usually invites the onlooker into wonderment and curiosity. They usually provoke introspection.”

Watch this video for a virtual tour of the exhibit at youtu.be/Rcys2dLpwlg

An artist reception at the gallery will be held at Northland Community and Technical College on Wednesday, July 10 from 6 – 8 PM. Everyone is welcome to join us for this free event. Many pieces of art in this exhibit are for sale. You are welcome to purchase at any time and pick up when the exhibit ends.

The NWMAC Gallery is located at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls. The gallery hours are Monday-Friday from 8 -5 PM and at other times when events are held at the college. Please check to make sure the college is open before making a special trip to see the exhibit. Summer hours can change. Enter through Door B, which is right next to the gallery. Visitor parking is free.

If you are an artist interested in exhibiting a body of work with NWMAC, please contact Trey Everett at (218) 745-8886 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.