Sam Zimmerman and Lisa Malcomb worked together to create an art show for sixth graders and high school students from Wm. Kelley Schools. (Photo courtesy Morris Manning)
“The middle part of the North Shore is [a] sort of arts desert,” Tettegouche State Park Interpretive Naturalist Kurt Mead explained when asked about Tettegouche’s monthly art shows. “There are few venues for artists to show art and for the rest of us to view art,” Mead added. To fill this dearth of art show venues, since 2015 Tettegouche has hosted juried (the artists are selected by a jury of volunteers) art shows, and to date the state park has hosted over 70 shows.
One month a year, Mead reserves space for a group show, and February was chosen for this year’s group show. In an additional contribution to the arts scene, Tettegouche now has an artist in residence as part of the Minnesota Parks Artists in Residence program. Tettegouche’s artist is Sam Zimmerman, an Ojibwe artist based in Duluth and Grand Portage. Zimmerman works with park staff and community members to foster public engagement and create public art for the state park. He will have a show at Tettegouche in August.
For February, Tettegouche State Park, Sam Zimmerman, and William Kelley School art teacher Lisa Malcomb teamed up to create an art show featuring the work of the sixth grade art class and high school art students, 42 students in all. “Sam has a background in education and was excited about working with students, so it was a good fit,” Kurt Mead commented. The theme chosen was “Belonging”, and Zimmerman met with the students both virtually and in-person to prepare for the show.
Most art for the show was done with acrylic paint, with some pieces using graphite, watercolor, and mixed media. The sixth grade class was working with acrylic paint for the first time, as well as completing their first “long-term” project.
Sixth grader Eloise Swanson said, “I learned that you can do layering to make different colors. I started with pink and put brown on top to make a different effect.” Another sixth grader, Graylan Sinderman, shared that “I learned how to make 3-D stuff. I was able to make close stuff bigger and learned a lot about shading.”
A couple of high school students also shared about the process. Ninth grader Crosby Shoen said, “I held my art piece close to my heart, rather than just making it for a grade. It took me a long time to figure out what to do. It was about something that I went through and I felt inspired to make an artwork for my dad.”
“I think the entire process was incredibly beneficial to my artistic ability as I had to actually learn and think about wolf anatomy, use reference images to try and figure out how to draw my artwork and think about my composition. I’d also like to thank Sam Zimmerman for sharing on our field trip on what it means to be an artist and the processes that go into it. I also think his art is really cool,” 11th grader Jack Virginia concluded.
In the past, Tettegouche had hosted a few student art shows, partnering with the Lake County Arts Board, but no student shows are scheduled for the future, though the park is open to opportunities that may arise. Students are also welcome to submit for their own art show, though getting one is competitive, and the student would need enough art to fill the gallery space.
Submissions will be opening for art shows at the park in the near future, and artists can email Kurt Mead at kurt.mead@state.mn.us for details. Those interested in Zimmerman’s art and residency can also contact Mead for details.
