“Growing Towards the Light” Art Show Starts Now!

Grand Portage Artist Donovan Dahmen displayed some of his incredible art before the Forever Stamp ceremony commemorating George Morrison. Dedication of the “Spirit Little Cedar Tree,” a large, wooden mosaic created by Dahmen, was held at 4:30 p.m. following the Forever Stamp ceremony. The artwork was acquired by the Grand Portage Tribe in 2017 and depicts a sacred tree of the same name, located on Lake Superior on the Grand Portage Reservation. The Spirit Little Cedar Tree is on a wall in the lobby of Grand Portage Lodge & Casino. Dahmen has said that he wants to dedicate the piece to Morrison, who greatly inspired him as an artist. Morrison is recognized and widely admired for his monumental wooden mosaics. Staff photo Brian Larsen

The 13th annual art show sponsored by Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church is called “Growing Towards the Light. It will be held at the Johnson Heritage Post from April 29 to May 22.

The show opens Friday, April 29, with a reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Professional artists and emerging artists of all ages from up and down the Northshore will participate. In addition, a featured artist talk and reception will be held on May 6 at 5 p.m., with acclaimed Minneapolis photographer Michelle Wingard.

According to her website, Michelle Westmark Wingard is an installation based photographer, curator, and arts educator. She is a Professor of Art and Gallery Director of Bethel University’s two exhibition spaces. In her fifteen years of programming exhibitions, Westmark Wingard has worked with more than eighty artists in a diverse range of media. Her photographic and curatorial projects often seek to create experiential and participatory opportunities to explore themes of memory, grief, memorial, perception, and interconnection. She has curated several exhibitions and exhibited her photographic work locally and nationally. She is the recipient of the Jerome Travel Grant (2015) and the Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant (2017 and 2019). Westmark Wingard holds an MFA in photography from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York (2006). She lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

On Friday, May 6, Michelle will speak and share slides, from her work and other artists, about the intersections between creativity and spiritual self-care, especially in this time of emerging and re-grouping after pandemic restrictions and losses.

The next day, Saturday, May 7, from 10 a.m. to noon at Johnson Heritage Post, Michelle will lead an inter-generational workshop, open to all ages from the community. She will guide attendees in an art project where participants can explore these themes further.