Current Artists
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She/Her
My painting is a means of communicating how the physical body feels at a specific point in time through an imagined visual anatomy. I developed this process by studying medical imagery and experimenting with ways to portray internal health. I am interested in how it feels to have a chronic illness or pain, or a very healthy body. How some bodies are visible and seen for their physicality and some are walking around in pain and no one knows. Illness and less than perfect health is viewed as a failing that must be hidden. And yet, physical health is an all-encompassing part of our lives. When the human figures are placed in environments visual narratives occur. This allows me to explore social impacts upon one’s health as well. This results in a combination of silhouetted expressionistic figures in slightly abstracted environments.
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He/Him
Duane Penske was a primitive artist working in Vesta, MN 1961 - 2014. His work explored daily rural life, spirituality and the farm crisis of the 1980s.
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He/Him
John Stumme is a Minneapolis mixed-media artist who paints on a variety of surfaces, most notably mulberry paper, archival tissue paper, and silk. Once the materials have dried he will either tear and compose them into abstract nature pieces or into backgrounds for his figurative work, like the ones for his Bodies of Resistance collection.
John finds wonder in the flowing together of diluted acrylic paints on various surfaces. He observes how colors blend and textures occur organically as the paints dry and decides when and where he needs to add additional paint. Intuition is an important part of this process. John enjoys working with face, body and nature images because of their tangible connection to life and living. John’s mother, who died two years, was an artist. He sees her hands when he looks at his own and feels her spirit when he views his finished work.
While John has no formal arts education he has sought out and benefited greatly from the guidance of some gifted Minneapolis artists including Susan Shields, Suzanne Beck and artist, mentor, and friend Deborah Foutch. John is forever grateful to his husband, Kyle, for buying him a class to Deborah’s Artist Way class for his 50th birthday. It awakened his artist soul and John has not stopped making art since.
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She/Her
Stefanie Schmid is a multi-faceted and award-winning artist with a focus on fine art, design, and teaching. She draws inspiration from the outdoors, and from her senses. Schmid’s artistic approach is rooted in nature where she seeks solace in the woods of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. Her paintings reflect her inner world. Overall, Schmid’s art is a testament to her versatility, creativity, and dedication to her craft. Two of her notable pieces “The Great Thaw” and “Failing Visibility” won a blue ribbon at the Maple Grove Arts Center in 2023 and 2024, and she has been interviewed for a segment on PBS.Follow her process and keep up with what’s new on Instagram: stefanie_schmid_artist
Website: etsy.com/shop/StefanieSchmid
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She/Her
Based in Isanti, MN, Samsonette is an artist whose work radiates diversity and stands out with a distinct style and character. Her versatility and eagerness to embrace various forms and mediums give rise to a vibrant spectrum of works. These pieces, drawing influence from lithography and graphic design, keenly observe both the natural world and human nature. Through her exploration of texture and materials, and her nuanced interplay between figure and abstraction, Samsonette exhibits a bold approach to both subject matter and artistic medium.
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She/Her
My work is deeply rooted in the exploration of personal experiences, memories and the human connection to nature. Through blend of analog photographic processes, mixed media techniques, and the transformative power of memory, I strive to create imagery that evokes the viewers own memories, feelings, and experiences.My creative process typically begins with finding an image associated with an emotionally charged personal memory on my old cell phones, cameras, or film and using that image to create an instant photo. To me, instant photos are not only a popular way of quickly capturing a moment in time, but they have a particular aesthetic in their imperfections that evokes a sense of nostalgia. Then I “touch” the memories and manipulate them through the emulsion lift process, and frequently integrate them with other media such as graphite or watercolor. The resulting pieces often become vague, distorted, and/or transformed during the process, often adding new sensations, feelings, or abstractions. What was originally an old memory associated with a particular situation in my life has become something new and taken on new meaning. Sometimes this is a way that I work through painful past events and can be a healing process for me.
Despite the personal beginnings of each piece, it is my goal that the viewer can find a piece of themselves in my work, and that the experiences I've embedded within the art become shared memories that foster a deeper understanding of our collective human experience.
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She/Her
Sue Cranston’s art is often about documenting details from her 1970's & 1980's childhood. Her paintings depict vegetables, florals, animals and most especially, sentimental items from childhood. Cranston is particularly fond of bikes, trikes, roller skates, vintage school chairs, Pyrex mixing bowls and all things related to Brownies and Girl Scouts! Sue Cranston lives in River Falls, WI and works full time as a high school art teacher in St. Paul, MN.My “School themed and Girl Scout themed” artwork started to develop when I learned about the extraordinary printmaking artist Kathe Kollwitz. I am in awe of the way Ms. Kollwitz captured emotion and a range of human experiences with her printing techniques and charcoal drawings. The honest imagery influenced my very first linoleum block print of a school girl wearing a plaid jumper uniform. After experimenting with mixing mediums, I learned how to digitize my artwork and transform photographs of my printmaking prints and my paintings.
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She/Her
Donna Budzinsky creates characters of people she has met using vibrant colors and abstracted features. Her work has a nostalgic factor that brings viewers in. The details she includes provide personality and depth, emphasizing the fun-loving quirkiness that exists in each of us but is often hidden. Donna takes her inspiration from the simple aspects of our personalities and amplifies them in wondrous ways. Donna lives and works in Minnesota.
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They/Them
I specialize in whimsical art and advocacy that delights humans of all ages. Using a unique mixed-media style, I combine traditional watercolor technique with dynamic and expressive character design. Together, let's color our world into the just, equitable, and joyful place we always dreamed it could be.
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They/Them
Raven Gizhibaayaanimad Mae of Whirlywind Artworks is a Mixed, Queer, Fat, genderfluid, Two Spirit, visual and mixed media artist. Born and raised in Minnesota they have dual citizenship with the US and Red Lake Nation of Ojibwe/Anishinaabe. Committed to community building and the healing power of art they held (pre-pandemic) weekly Art It Out events. These weekend events were meant to create social spaces and local community for creative dabblers and artists to gather together and create in a common supportive space. They work to weave emotive narratives of their experiences and local events into their work. Their favorite mediums are inktense pencils, water blendable oil pastels and acrylics
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She/Her
Artist Shirlene Perrin's paintings reflect her fascination with outer space and science fiction. The space we can see from earth, from satellite images, images from Nasa, the imagination of creators of science fiction films old and new, galaxy and space related art all inspire her work. A love of the outdoors also inspires her work as well as the hope that other worlds as beautiful as Earth exist. The James Webb telescope imagery brought a new “look” to images of space we have become accustomed to viewing and are also an inspiration as you can see in her paintings “James” and “Webb”.
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She/They/Their
My mixed-media narrative paintings colorfully encourage reflection on our relationship to home. I am intrigued by the erosion of private and public spaces and how exploring our relationship to place and time through spatial disorientation can subvert normative ideas about gender, sexuality, and racialized subjects. Through painting “private” spaces and objects used in domestic settings I challenge how women’s expertise is often confined to the “Four F’s”— food, fashion, family, and furnishings— to expand our cultural attitudes for more expansive understandings. My work engages home and belonging, presence/absence, and what perpetually remains at the margins of societal focus; the evidence and social impact of women’s/femme labor inside and outside of the home. I draw on themes of Xicanx feminism, domesticity, intimacies, iconography, and historical erasures to teach viewers something new, while simultaneously providing visual pleasure.
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She/Her
I was born and raised in Tasmania, the island state of Australia, and now dye, spin, and weave on the family farm in rural Buffalo, Minnesota.My wearable art is rooted in my love of color and texture and the joy of following where the fiber takes me.
I am intentional about minimizing textile waste, which has influenced the evolution of my weaving process, from reclaiming and dying cotton yarns, to techniques for eliminating loom waste, to saving every scrappy thread and yarn trimming to incorporate into future handspun yarns.
Dyeing yarns for weaving led me to explore fabric and clothing dyeing, including tie dye and shibori techniques.
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She/Her/We
My art reflects insider dialogue, existential curiosities and pain, and human experiences. My inspiration comes from my travels, raising my children, my childhood, nature, local and Swedish lore, and observing and experiencing human behavior. Both photography and painting are the media I use to express myself. Although I have been a practicing artist since 1994, I have been reviving my passion for experimental processes since retiring as a professional photographer in 2009 and returning to graduate school for art psychotherapy.With a 1970’s Land Camera, the love for instant analog imagery was born. Tapping into the foundation of expressing soft imperfect memories, felt human experience, and personal wonder. My paintings often depict deeper, surreal, dreamlike imagery. Imagery that is visually complex and offers hidden meaning for those who wish to study and are inspired by the need to understand and contain observed or felt emotional pain.
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She/Her/We
Robin Getsug, LMFT, ATR-BCI have been making art all of my life. I am a mixed media photo collage artist , and painter.
I have been involved with many community arts projects with a social justice lens.
Besides making art, my full time work is therapy and art therapy.
I am a licensed marriage and family therapist and a registered and board certified art therapist.
I love to travel and find beauty and inspiration wherever I may go.
I have three grown, highly creative children and a canine companion , Lucille.
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She/Her
Based in Isanti, MN, Samsonette is an artist whose work radiates diversity and stands out with a distinct style and character. Her versatility and eagerness to embrace various forms and mediums give rise to a vibrant spectrum of works. These pieces, drawing influence from lithography and graphic design, keenly observe both the natural world and human nature. Through her exploration of texture and materials, and her nuanced interplay between figure and abstraction, Samsonette exhibits a bold approach to both subject matter and artistic medium.
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He/Him
I am a queer artist who sees the world as a colorful place, and I want to show that through my art. Spending time in nature inspires me to make more art. Nature is very beautiful and diverse. The forests and grasslands that are all around us blossom with an assortment of plants, fungus, and animals. Humans are part of nature, so it makes sense that we thrive in diversity. I enjoy using a lot of bright colors in my paintings to show the beautiful world that is all around us.
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She/Her/We
Every person has an inner self waiting to emerge, longing to be discovered; I see the inner beauty of discarded objects and help them to realize their true identity. Working exclusively with cast off and recycled materials, the Haunting Trophies series combines organic elements and manufactured pop-culture items; objects whose superficial connection is nothing more than being left for landfill. Looking deeper, one sees the fabricated glamor of ornate vintage jewelry, opulent silk flowers, and the idyllic beauty of Barbie Heads, are not in contrast with, but rather compliment the organic elegance of antlers and animal furs. Fusing these seemingly unrelated materials, transforms the individual parts into one cohesive pop-culture totem whole; The result is Haunting Trophies - ghosts of their former selves, once living, once glamorous, always to be revered.Each totem offers its soul, its core, arising from an amalgamation of its individual parts. They radiate unadulterated beauty and serenity. These Haunting Trophies evoke an ethereal peace and calmness. The goal of this series is not to dwell on the past, but rather to be humbled by lessons learned, and aspire to a state of elegance and tranquility. The deer antlers do not honor the hunter, nor do the doll heads symbolize (at times) manic childhood, instead they are the culmination of each item’s former self to create a thing of beauty, of reverence. In doing so, Haunting Trophies invites viewers to transform the seemingly fragmented pieces of their pasts into a beautiful, strong whole.
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Sara Vidar was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, where she studied Fine Arts/Studio Arts at the University of Southern California. Prior to moving to the Twin Cities in 2010, Vidar has lived in Canterbury England and New York City, absorbing the art and culture of all her environments. Having traveled extensively, and an appreciator of all arts, she is forever drawn to the energy and reverence that is attracted to and projected by Religious Iconography and Folk Art/Self-Taught artists. Vidar brings this symbiotic relationship into all her pieces, inviting viewers to relate to her work at a visceral level rather than from a cerebral ivory tower.
Sara Vidar lives in West Saint Paul, MN with her triplet boys and three dogs.
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She/Her/They
A lot of my artwork is inspired by the relationships around me, the ups and downs of how they flow. I’ve used my art as a way to channel heartbreaks, love, happiness through surrealism and abstraction. I love to take aspects of nature and pair it with other things that may not naturally occur together but to create something unique and to give viewers a chance to look deep into it and think about the meaning of it.I am at my core a lover girl and there are a lot of times where my romantic relationships influence my art in positives and negatives. Painting what I feel in my relationships allows me to take a step back and paint what I feel in my life and those relationships. There are times where it has been more challenging to finish a piece but painting my love and my pain for myself and those around me has allowed me to heal from past hurt. Painting allows me to slow down and process what I feel and seeing it in a picture allows me to feel it in all of it’s essence. Those paintings are most often the ones I hold closest and then other times I will paint something on a whim and it will turn out amazing with no intended deeper meaning until I take a look at it later and I see the deeper meaning. I think that art can hold something special for everyone whether we realize it initially or not. Creating is simply us pouring our hearts and deepest thoughts into a everlasting piece of art.
To be vulnerable with ourselves and others can most often be the most beautiful but terrifying piece of art of all. There have been many times where it was easier to allow my art to speak for myself rather than actually saying it out loud. Emotions can be so complex and even hard to understand at times, which is why I love painting my emotions. We can’t always see our own emotions and by painting, it allows us to feel and see them. And as a result of me painting my emotions, I’ve created a gorgeous piece of art from it.
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She/Her
Boldly going where I have not gone in a very long time! This is a new adventure for me in my recent retirement. Enjoying the hunt for thrifted denim clothing and trying every upcycled arting process that I can come up with. Delving back into my true love of wheel-thrown and hand-built pottery. Hoping you enjoy the journey as much as I am.
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He/Him
I have had the good fortune to travel to some incredible places and witness breathtaking beauty. The goal of my photography is to share that beauty, whether it is the majesty of natural landscapes, the amazing animals that populate them, or the beautiful cities I have visited.
In a time when people are focusing on the things that separate us, I hope to help people take a moment to appreciate the beauty of the world that unites us.
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