This exhibit was created by the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council at the gallery at Northland Community and Technical College, 1101 Highway 1 East in Thief River Falls. It includes work by 19 artists from our region who have a listing in the Artists of NW Minnesota booklet. The exhibit will run until mid-December 2025. There are approximately 106 pieces of artwork in this exhibit, many of which are for sale, including charcoal, photography, watercolor, acrylic and oil painting, pen and ink, pastel, collage, mixed media, pottery, glass work, jewelry, sculpture, books and written material, and mosaics.

Artists featured in the exhibit include Kat Allen of Warroad, Beau Bakken of Hallock, Rock Bakken of Hallock, Debbie Dahl Aune of Gatzke, Paulette Christianson of Badger, Ross Harper Hier of Crookston, Kristin Eggerling of Hallock, Trey Everett of Crookston, Christine Foster of Thief River Falls, Therese Jacobson of Alvarado, Jesscia Lundeen of  Thief River Falls, Cindy Kolling of Gully, Elizabeth Kitchell-Rockstad of Ada, Gail Ose of Thief River Falls, Jodi Peterson of Ada and Moorhead, Ivy Bailie of Fosston, Megan Sugden of Hallock, Betsy Saurdiff of Goodridge, and Samantha Thibert of Warroad.

Take a virtual walk through of this exhibit at https://youtu.be/cDKoo0en7lY (on the NWMAC YouTube page). The video is also available on the Northwest Minnesota Arts Council’s website under the exhibits tab on the top of the homepage.  Read about the exhibit here: https://northwestminnesotaartscouncil.org/blog/artists-of-nw-minnesota-exhibit-is-open

The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council publishes a directory (Artists of NW Minnesota booklet) every 3 years that lists fine craft and visual artists, photographers, writers, and performing artists who answered the call for entries, as well as arts organizations. It’s an invaluable resource when the public is looking for art and artists in our region. This resource allows people to connect with and find local artists and their products, as well as businesses that support the arts. The goal is to assist creative people, organizations, and businesses to flourish in our area. 

The booklet helps people find talented writers, visual artists, performance artists, fiber artists, sculptors, 3D artists, photographers, mosaic artists, printmakers, jewelers, metal artists, and wood carvers from our NW Minnesota region.

Artists of NW Minnesota was designed by Kat Allen of Warroad and edited by NWMAC Promotions Specialist Kristin Eggerling (me!) and Executive Director Mara Hanel with funding from the McKnight Foundation.

Pick up a copy of this directory at no cost at your local library, coffee shop, or other businesses in our Northwest Minnesota region. To view the booklet online visit https://northwestminnesotaartscouncil.org/artists-of-nw-minnesota-booklet. And, stop by the exhibit in Thief River Falls! You won’t regret it.

This August I spent time in Lake Bronson volunteering with the Lake Bronson Archeological Survey. Recently, the lake was drained in the process of building a new dam. The dam had been built in 1936 as a WPA (Works Progress Administration) project and had been at risk for failure for a while. The Minnesota Historical Society took advantage of the draining of the lake to survey the lake basin to search for evidence of the past. When the project began in the 1930s, a house owned by the Bronson family was standing in the area that would later become Lake Bronson. Rumor has it that Mrs. Bronson refused to leave her home. She stood on the 2nd floor as the water rose and then was rescued by boat. That home and its contents crumbled into the lake. Almost a hundred years later, little is left of that house, but we did find some items. Remnants of the foundation of the house and outbuildings, a smashed thimble, pottery shards, and part of a pipe were some of the discoveries. We also found a bison horn and bones, fossils, and items that are considered pre-contact or before Europeans arrived in the area. An archeologist accompanied and led the volunteers during the survey. They also explained and identified items for us. After one of my volunteer days, some of us stopped by the Kittson County History Museum just down the road. We saw images of the Bronson Homestead and other visuals of what had been there. If you get the opportunity, to participate in an archeological survey, I’d highly recommend it.