Megan Maloney spoke with Phil about her history in the arts, taking over as the Executive-Artistic Director of Thief River Falls Community Theater, and Jane’s legacy. TRFACT is producing An Evening of Short Comedies Nov 13-15 at the Eagles Club in Thief River. Tickets are available online at TRFACT.org or at the door. Megan shared how they come up with the upcoming shows. The upcoming season will include The Sound of Music (directed by Jane Anderson), for kids ages 2nd-5th grade Frozen Kids, Teresa McGriff will be directing The Sweet Delilah Swim Club, and Something Rotten Jr for teens. Listen to all of the conversation!

The founder of Queen City Art Center Jenn Walz of Crookston spoke with Phil McKenzie this week about her accessible arts space in the historic Crookston Times building. Queen City Art Center is a creative hub with multipurpose studio space, retail gallery space, arts classes, and room for parties and events. Jenn has always been passionate about arts. She wants this to be a space for artists to come and receive support. She has a pottery studio in the space, including paint your own pottery. Classes include watercolor, acrylic, Shibori, mosaic, and more with a variety of area artists as teachers. She received a grant earlier this year from the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council for items for her kiln. You can follow Queen City Art Center on Facebook. Listen to hear all the details and stop by the space when you are downtown Crookston!

Hallock Photographer Megan Sugden has a photo in our current exhibit Artists of NW Minnesota at our gallery at Northland Community and Technical College. She's also in our artist booklet, has received grants, and submitted work into our annual exhibit (and won an award). Megan's photography includes northern lights and night sky images (Kittson County Skies) and portraits. Megan’s websites are meganphoto.com and kittsoncountyskies.com. Her photos, including family portraits, are often taken on her family farm, which she calls her outdoor studio. She includes unique items as backgrounds in the Northern Lights shots (tractors, old buildings, highway signs, and other spots in Kittson County).

Alvarado Artist Therese Masters Jacobson is currently featured in an exhibit Drawn from Observation at the historic Fournet Building downtown Crookston. Therese spoke about how she got started painting, drawing, and other visual arts and the process of creating art. Drawn from Observation includes 29 pieces in pen and ink, acrylic, and colored pencil featuring nature, peace, her granddaughters, wheat, vegetables, animals, and more. These pieces are all for sale. Much of Therese’s inspiration comes from everyday life. Therese talked about living an artful life and what she observes all around her. Therese has a listing in our Artists of NW Minnesota booklet and has a piece of art in our Artists of NW Minnesota exhibit at our gallery at NCTC. Therese has served on the NWMAC Board of Directors and worked for the NWMAC as the Exhibit Specialist besides being a regular exhibitor. Listen to hear this fun conversation and stop by Therese’s exhibit in Crookston!