• + Send a Postcard
• + Add to Collection
• + Share this work

These photographs are from a
portrait project that I began in 2000.
The subjects for these portraits are
men and women that live and work in
the Arrowhead* region of
Northeastern Minnesota, and in
Douglas County in Northwestern
Wisconsin. They are all linked by
the fact, that regardless of how they
earn a living, they each consider
themselves to be first and foremost,
artists. Within this group, there are
some with regional and statewide
reputations, and even a few that have
achieved national recognition for
their work. There are also a number
of artist/teachers among those I
have, and will photograph, most
employed at one or another of the
small colleges in the region. The
majority, however, do their work here,
with aspirations that often do not
exceed reaching beyond their local
communities, or in some cases,
beyond their own small group of
friends and peers. This is a vast
rural area of over 18,000 square
miles, with a population of 350,000.
It is a place where trees far
outnumber people. It is not the
environment normally thought of as
the realm for artists, but even so, a
great many, myself included, have
chosen to plant ourselves in this thin
soil, and to make our art here, far
from any major market. These
people are individuals, with dignity,
and a life of their own making. As
such, I believe, a photographic
portrait is not an unreasonable
amount of attention to be paid to
them.

This work was featured in 5 Minutes of Fame, a 28-hour webcast that first played December 5-6, 2002. A panel of Minnesota curators representing the visual arts, performing arts, media arts, literary arts, design and architecture selected 130 of the works showcased in the 5 Minutes of Fame webcast. The other work in the webcast was submitted by individual artists and nearly 30 different arts organizations from across Minnesota.

5 Minutes of Fame marked the public launch of mnartists.org's new interface. Additional information about the event is available at http://5fame.mnartists.org/press/pressoffice.html

Artist

Easy chairs
Carlton rocks
Globe in shop window
Carlton rocks #2
Dress in shop window
Hop Vine
Aspen
Brass-Craft Made in U.S.A.
Lilac bush in September
RV lot
Fluted column
Hops Vine
Aspen and alder grove
Along I-35 near the Cloquet exit
Billboard and wetland in fog
DM&IR ore docks, Duluth, MN
Auto dealer
Medical supply
The garden in April
ATM Inside
FEZZA
Ellen's Framing Gallery
Winter storefront #1
Stora Enso from Super One parking lot
Lake Superior in fog
Vacant lot, Duluth
Aspen in vacant lot, July
Wall, Virginia, MN
Along Minnesota HWY 23
Lilac bush
Formal wear, party dresses
Wade Stadium, Duluth
Lotus Inn
NJG
Greyhound Bus Depot, Duluth
Window, Ray's Diner, Duluth
Wade Stadium practice field
Rest area, Giese, Minnesota
Still life
Used chair
Plastic flag in window
Strip mall storefront, Virginia, MN
Vacant storefront, Minnesota Iron Range
Ketola Diner door #2
Used appliances
Eddy's Barbershop
Self Portrait
Storefront shrine
Window of the Sorrowful Mysteries
Tending creation
Duluth thrift shop
Ann Klefstad, artist & writer, Duluth, MN.
Robert Repinski, artist, Duluth, MN.
Adu Gindy, painter, Duluth, MN.
Barton Sutter, poet & essayist, Duluth, MN.
Mary Ann Atwood, actor, Grand Marais, MN.
Martin DeWitt, artist & Director of Tweed Museum of Art.
Catherine Koemptgen, photographer, Duluth, MN.
Carla Stetson, artist, Duluth, MN.
Tim Kaiser, performance artist, Duluth, MN.
Dean Lettestrom, painter, Superior, WI
Po-Lin Tong Kosuth, painter (not houses) Duluth, MN
Connie Wanek, poet, Duluth, MN
Joseph Maiolo, fiction writer, Duluth, MN
Scott D. Murphy, painter, Proctor, MN.
Sheila Packa, poet, Duluth, MN.
Louis Jenkins, poet, Duluth, MN.
John Antioho
Peter Weizenegger, sculptor, Hermantown, MN.
Sterling F. Rathsack Jr., artist, painter, sculptor, Superior, WI.
Artists at the Edge of the World
Marlene Wisuri, photographer, Duluth, MN.
Laura Stone, artist, Knife River, MN.
Fence and tree, Interstate 35
Vacant storefront, Superior, WI
Vacant storefront, Duluth, MN
Windfall and litter, vacant lot, Duluth, MN
Boarded storefront window, Duluth, MN
Self seeded poplar, vacant lot
Automobile repair shop, Superior, WI
Frankie's, Superior, WI
Grass along I-35 near Esko, MN
Highland Barbershop, Duluth, MN
Closed
Vacant Storefront #2
Double portrait
Hope
Under Freeway
Causeway
Foreign Sky
Catholic Customs
Urn
Former site of U.S. Steel plant
Cement Plant on Lake Superior
Trestle and bridge, Lake Superior
Marsh near Saint Louis River
Fen, near Saint Louis river
Dirt step pyramid and mud puddle, Duluth harbor
Salvation Army store front
Jerry
Come in, we're open
Basalt outcropping with lichens
Feed mill, and approaching storm
Camper
I35 looking south from Larson Road overpass
Forever Bridal
Garden detritus first day of Spring, March in Minnesota
Airstream trailer
Used sofa
Jesus and Tootsie Pop dispenser
Furniture for Less
Royal Chateau
Fleet Wing trailer
Jewelry shop window, Easter Sunday
Pawn shop window
Bleachers and practice field