As a new year begins, millions of people will make New Year's resolutions in an attempt to better themselves and their lives. Unfortunately, for many of us, those heart-felt intentions will devolve into well-meaning yet distasteful obligations. Nonetheless, the mnartists.org staff began our efforts at self-improvement early by creating collections on mnartists.org related to our hopes for the coming year. In honor of the new year and the new site design we each started with the themes of newness and resolve. Happy browsing and Happy New Year!

Colin Rusch
mnartists.org Community Manager

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In thinking about the New Year, and possible resolutions I could make for the good of my self, my family, and my community, one word keeps reverberating in my head--patience.

Using the advance search function on mnartist.org as a method of looking for answers to life’s questions is similar to pulling rune stones, throwing the I-chi or shooting craps at a casino. The results can be prophetic, unexpected, and eerily prescient. And, as my 3-year-old daughter advises "you get what you get and you don’t make a fit".

I searched the entire site by simply putting in my new mantra – patience. I received 23 options from a site of over 5,500 artists and 30,000 works—artistic, cryptic, random messages for patience in the New Year as provided by artists on mnartists.org.

In carefully reviewing every selection, looking at the artists’ profiles with interest, examining each gallery of work closely, and contemplating the diversity of the artists and their work with inquiry, I found patience to be a pleasure. Is it possible that mnartists.org is not only a fabulous resource for artists and the arts but a tool for self-improvement?

Enjoy the new mnartists.org site and the New Year with your own methods of searching. I hope you find what you’re looking for.

Kathleen Kvern
mnartists.org Director

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