Crookston Artists Trey Everett and Ross Hier spoke about their background and road to becoming artists. Last summer they painted a mural together in East Grand Forks that featured over 30 species of fish. Trey has also painted a number of murals elsewhere, including some at the Golden Link Senior Center. There’s one in Crookston on the Ace Hardware exterior wall that Ross helped him with. They will be painting a mural in Fosston together this summer.

Trey also spoke about being the Showcase Specialist for the Arts Council and NWMAC exhibits, including the NW Art Exhibit in Crookston at the University of Minnesota and Welcome the Whimsical (there is a call for art right now for 3rd grade on up through adult).

NWMAC Executive Director Mara Hanel spoke about many current opportunities and activities related to the arts in our region. This include upcoming grant deadlines (for organizations and individuals), the annual NW Art Exhibit at UMC open right now until April 27, Of the Year awards (NW Star Award Darcy Reese of Thief River Falls, Artist of the Year Loreen Hanson of Thief River Falls, and Arts Advocate of the Year Rena Zapata Bouchard of Crookston), the Awards Reception and Program on Sunday, April 27, and Welcome the Whimsical Exhibit Call for Art. Listen for all the details!

Thief River Falls native Samantha Buckley is this week’s featured podcast guest. Samantha was active in TRFACT during her time in Thief River. After high school, she attended college and graduated from Mankato State with a BFA. Afterwards, she moved to the Twin Cities and acted in a variety of shows, including being an understudy in a performance at the Minnesota Children’s Theater. Samantha now lives and acts in Chicago. Listen to hear her advice for aspiring performers and about her experiences as an actor, singer, and voice artist.

Thief River Falls native Brayden Drevlow connected with Phil McKenzie in Singapore recently. This is the second part of their conversation. Brayden is a talented pianist. In the first part of the conversation he shared the challenges of practices his instrument when he travels. They spoke about how few pianos he finds internationally and the overuse of these pianos. Because of this, he has learned how to fix pianos. He fixes the pianos before his concerts. Now, when he returns to Minnesota for 3 to 4 months a year, he tunes and works on about 1,000 pianos. He also searches out pianos when he travels, fixes them, and performs.

Brayden has an upcoming concert in Alexandria on April 5 with the Central Lakes Symphony. Listen to hear their conversation.