MacRostie Art Center (MAC) is pleased to announce receptions for two exhibitions that will be held during the First Friday Art Walk on July 5. The Minnesota Gallery will host the opening of THE ROCKS ARE STRANGE HERE, a multimedia exhibition by Pono Asuncion. Giinawind Gallery will host the opening of Stories Between Earth and Sky, an exhibition of paintings by Sarah McRae. The public is invited to attend the receptions and view the exhibitions throughout the months of July and August.
MINNESOTA GALLERY | THE ROCKS ARE STRANGE HERE | Pono Asuncion
Pono Asuncion (Bdeóta Othúŋwe/Minneapolis, MN) combines digital and analog tools to create worlds filled with vivid color, abstract rocky formations, imaginary machines, inquisitive creatures, and invented languages. Ze works with digital painting tools, along with found wooden boards, cardboard, sketchbook scraps, Little Free Library books, office supplies like highlighters and scotch tape, acrylic ink, pen and ink, acrylics, watercolor, and collage. By evoking feelings of familiarity and strangeness, orientation and disorientation, their work illustrates how escapism can reveal new possibilities for healing, liberation, and play.
This exhibition is sponsored by Anderson Family Dental.
405 First Avenue NW Grand Rapids, MN | 218.326.2697 | macrostieartcenter.org
GIINAWIND GALLERY | STORIES BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY | Sarah McRae
Sarah McRae (Red Lake Nation citizen based in Madison, WI) is drawn to the delicate patterns, textures, and colors inherent in nature as well as in traditional Ojibwe beadwork. She creates paintings combining these influences into cohesive designs. Her art is about relationships and our interconnectedness.
“While much of my work appears to only be about water and land, most of the inspirations behind the work are about the people in my life,” says McRae. “My parents, siblings, friends, my birth family, and my relationships all make appearances in my paintings. You don’t see their faces, but they are ever present. They may appear as bears, turtles, butterflies, but most often they emerge as birds.”
A member of the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe, Sarah McRae was born in 1968 in Green Bay, WI and adopted by Tony and Michele McRae. She graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead, MN in 1991 with a BA in Art Education. In 1996, McRae received her MFA in graphics at UW-
Madison. Sarah currently lives in Madison, WI, where she has been an art teacher at Velma Hamilton Middle School since 1996.
FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK | July 5
The First Friday Art Walk is a monthly celebration of art and community that takes place in downtown Grand Rapids. Visitors are encouraged to enjoy the other art walk activities throughout downtown in addition to visiting the MAC exhibitions. A full schedule of First Friday events can be found at GrandRapidsArts.org.
ALSO SHOWING IN JULY:
REIF GALLERY | GARDEN ART | featuring Lea Friesen
Opening July 15, this exhibition will showcase visual artwork inspired by gardens and gardening.
Artists from across Minnesota will be included, and the exhibition will feature a collection of botanical art by Lea Friesen (Grand Rapids, MN)
GALLERY CONTACT | Katie Marshall, 218-326-2697, katie@macrostieartcenter.org
ARTIST CONTACT | Pono Asuncion, kaponoasuncion@gmail.com
ARTIST CONTACT | Sarah McRae, madmcrae9@me.com
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