Upcoming Opportunities
Amber Fletschock Visual Art & Collage
Art material supplied.
Door prizes.
Food Provided.
About Amber:
Amber Fletschock is a mixed-media collage artist. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in painting from Moorhead State University and has exhibited her work frequently. Fletschock received honorable mention at the Art on the Plains XI, 2012 and her work can be found in both private and museum collections around the region including the permanent collection at Plains Art Museum. Fletschock is represented by ecce gallery.
Napesni’s Renegade with Marcie Rendon
An Evening with Playwright, Poet, and Author, Marcie Rendon
Join author Marcie Rendon as she shares the powerful true story behind her latest book, Napesni Renegade. Discover the dramatic journey of a wild bison from the freedom of the Cheyenne River Reservation to a new life in Minnesota after being captured by ranchers.
Marcie will offer an Author Talk at the Mahnomen Public Library.
Making Cyanotypes with Joseph Allen
Creating cyanotype prints is one of the oldest alternative photographic processes. It uses non-toxic chemicals to develop a UV-sensitive solution that produces vibrant blue colors. Participants will be able to use plants and leaves from the surrounding landscape, hand-drawn stencils, or printed transparencies to compose an image. The composition is then exposed to the sun to create prints on paper or fabric.
Art material supplied.
Door prizes.
Food Provided.
About Joseph:
Joseph Allen (Rosebud Lakota/ White Earth) is a photographer and printmaker based in Ogema, Minnesota, in the White Earth Nation. He is also Executive Director of the Manoomin Artis Initiative and founder of the Animikii Print Club in Mahnomen, MN. He will be assisted by photographer Rebecca Dallinger.
Collage Humor With Joan Kauppi
Come play with design and humor as you learn techniques to create layered collage. Teaching artist Joan Kauppi (Red Lake) shares her insights “ I have experimented in many art forms and while I loved those, they didn’t keep my attention or I didn't feel like I belonged to them. Collage is different for me. I can be a storyteller by creating a single piece. Once images are merged and transformed the stories change, sometimes into absurdity. I love to combine images from different decades, eras, sizes, media type, mediums and old, worn out paper. It's a participatory art form whether one is the artist or the viewer by creating ideas, messages or stories that vary by imaginations.”
Art material supplied.
Door prizes.
Food Provided.
About Joan:
I became an artist by happenstance or perhaps having the heart of an artist manifested the ability or maybe opportunity to call myself one. I am an Anishinaabe woman, mother, grandmother, auntie, great-auntie, employee and my best friend is a dog. I am also a Split Feather; an Anishinaabe adoptee from the 60’s. The Split Feather and Artist labels should merge flawlessly but they are like oil and water; imposter syndrome is the clear winner.
Throughout my six decades I have experimented in many art forms and while I loved those, they didn’t keep my attention. Collage is different. There is the transformation of merging images and the image stories change. I love putting pieces together from different decades, sizes, photographs, illustrations, paintings, postcards and old worn out papers. This is a new beginning, a new story, a new place of acceptance that was self-created.
The isolation of the pandemic afforded me time to watch and read about multiple art forms and I had to try my hand. June 2023 will be two years since this journey began and hopefully will be around for many years in the future.
Art of the Rural Spillway Fellowship
In 2026, two selected individuals will have the opportunity to move through the Spillway Fellowship Program.
The fellowship will take place in the Winona region between Summer 2026 - Fall 2027. Fellows will visit Winona for four multi-day visits between Summer 2026 and Fall 2027. Between visits, Fellows will be digitally connected with individuals, organizations, and communities that further their creative and relational process.
The majority of the fellowship is self-guided, social, and research-based, but studios/creative workspaces can be made available as needed during the multi-day visits, which are facilitated by Art of the Rural and our partners. Each fellow will receive $10,000 in support, with travel, food, and lodging costs covered by Art of the Rural. Through Art of the Rural’s partnership with Honoring Dakota Project, fellows will also have the opportunity to learn more about the dynamics of Dakota life and culture, while reflecting upon the futures of intercultural collaboration in this region.
Fellows will also be supported to attend public presentations by the first year’s fellows in Fall 2026, thus creating threads of conversation and relationships that will advance their creative practice. In Fall 2027, this year’s selected fellows will exhibit work at the Winona County History Center gallery, or offer a public presentation/event with partners cultivated through the Fellowship's relational process.
The Spillway Fellowship award of $10,000 covers these fellows’ time, reflection, and creative practice in engaging and learning from the land, cultures, and communities of the Winona region – and, from those relationships, creating work and presenting it publicly at the conclusion of the fellowship. Travel, food, and lodging costs are directly supported by Art of the Rural, as are costs associated with the form of public presentation chosen by the fellow.
Half of the stipend will be provided at the start of the fellowship, with the second half of the stipend provided after the first visit to Winona.
Minwaajimowinan – Good Stories
This exhibit showcases artists and their families who have roots in the Naytahwaush area on the White Earth Reservation. Kent Estey, the guest curator for this exhibit, explains, “Oftentimes, the only news we hear about our little villages on the reservation is bad news. We are so much more than the bad things that happen to us. Our woods are full of amazing artists who do beautiful work, and their artistry deserves to be shown in galleries and art centers. Watermark is a place where we can show our artistry. “
Families featured in the show include Estey, Robinson, LaVoy, Bunker, Keahna, Burnette, Mason/Roy, and Littlewolf. Over thirty artists’ work will be featured in this exhibition, showcasing basketry, beadwork, blankets, contemporary and traditional fashion, paintings, and more.
There is no charge to attend the reception/public is invited. Watermark galleries are accessible, free and open to the public Tuesday – Saturday from 10 to 5pm.