MARTHA BIRD: IN, OUT, THROUGH

On view: March 7 - April 22, 2023, Main Gallery

About the Exhibition: 
in, out, Through This exhibition is a conglomerate of sculpted natural fibers, hand-woven basketry, and other artworks by Martha Bird created from June 2020 to February 2023 in the backdrop of a global pandemic and worldwide social uprising movement.

About the Artist:
Martha Bird is a Minneapolis-based interdisciplinary artist who specializes in sculptural basketry. She has studied nationally and internationally with master basketmakers. As a Board Certified Holistic RN with a Masters in Human Development, Martha presents nationally on the topic of the health benefits of creating with one’s hands.
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Committed to community engagement, Martha has been involved in the arts as a visual artist, presenter, curator, writer, arts organizer, teaching artist and arts advocate. She has attended residencies throughout Minnesota including the Hinge Arts Residency through Springboard for the Arts and has received several state and regional grants in support of her work. Martha’s work has been acquired by the Minnesota Historical Society and can also be found in collections in New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Learn more about her at www.marthabirdart.com.

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Pete Driessen: Migratory Wing/Prairie Wildflower Bed

On view: March 14 - 28, 2023, Community Room

About the Exhibition:
Migratory Wing/Prairie Wildflower Bed is an in-process, public art prototype project based in visual, cultural, and historical research at the historic Kirkbride Building, former MN State Hospital, in Fergus Falls, MN. The interdisciplinary project combines the rectilinear forms of vintage hospital beds with traditional garden beds to develop and generate a prospective community native prairie wildflower garden mirroring the flight patterns of the many pollinators and wetland waterfowl species that travel through the western Minnesota prairie lakes regions.

About the Artist:
Pete Driessen is a Minnesota-born and raised visual artist who received his MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, VT, and BA from the University of Saint Thomas, St. Paul. Driessen has been awarded regional grants and awards including Jerome Foundation, Forecast Public Art, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, and Minnesota State Arts Board. Pete’s artwork has been regionally reviewed and presented at national and regional solo and group exhibitions at a wide range of venues.

Additional Artist Offerings:
Dreissen will also be present for gallery hours on Saturday, March 25 (noon - 5 pm), and will host a dried wildflower vases and grass seed mix exchange on that Saturday and on Tuesday, March 28 (3-5 pm.)

C. Beck: Beginnings

On view: January 12, 2023 - April 1, 2023, Studio K

Opening Reception: Tuesday, January 17th from 5-7pm
100th Birthday Celebration: Saturday, January 28th, 2-5pm (remembrances at 3pm)

Throughout 2023, the Kaddatz Galleries is celebrating the rich visual legacy of Charles Beck, Fergus Falls’ acclaimed painter and woodcut printmaker with a series of exhibitions, classes and printmaking workshops, and special events.  
 
In this first exhibition, C. Beck: Beginnings, a wide range of sketches, drawings, paintings, and portraits from Beck’s earliest years as an artist give insight into his creative development. Included are his first painting; envelopes from his letters home, which he adorned with cartoons depicting his life in the service; sketches of Otter Tail County landscapes and farmsteads; portraits of Mexicans he befriended in early visits to the country; figure drawing from his time in graduate school, early abstract paintings, little-known leatherwork pieces, as well as his first woodcut block print, the noteworthy “Holy Family.” Pieces in the exhibit have been drawn from the Beck family and close friends’ personal collections, as well as M State’s and  the Kaddatz’s permanent collection.
 
The Kaddatz Galleries' A Year of Beck is made possible, in part, by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund; and support from the Frank W. Veden Charitable Trust.