NANCY X. VALENTINE: LEGACY AMENDMENT

On view: May 4 - June 17, 2023, Main Gallery

Opening Reception: Thursday, May 11 from 5-7PM

About the Exhibition:
‘Legacy Amendment’ is the tethering point of two bodies of work. The series that came first was created in the spring of 2021 as a part of Springboard for the Arts’ Artists Respond: Equitable Rural Futures. Valentine titled it ‘The Audacity to be Asian in Rural America: we owe you no apologies” with focus on her family of origin - the Chinese side. Featuring the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, she created contemporary Chinese paintings dry mounted to silk brocade hanging scrolls that told stories of her family’s immigration from Lanzhou, Gansu, China to Fergus Falls, Minnesota, USA. 
That series is her interpretation of the Legacy of the ancestry she inherited. The series that completes this show is Valentine's Amendment, the place she stand currently representing the mark, uniquely her own, that she will make in contribution to the ancestral continuum of her maternal lineage.

The title of this show is an ode to the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution more widely known as just the Legacy Amendment. A legislative appropriation that would later lead to the genesis of Valentine's career as an Artist.

About the Artist:
Nancy XiáoRong Valentine is a Chinese American artist living and making a life in rural Otter Tail County, Minnesota. Conceived as the second child of a family residing in Lanzhou, Gansu during the era of China’s ‘One Child Policy,’ Valentine views her artistry as a channel to deepen her cultural connections to and between her Chinese heritage and Midwestern roots. Valentine’s artwork is woven with nuance and symbolism resulting in conceptually complex visual stories meant to evoke empathy.

C. Beck: MURALS & PUBLIC WORKS

On view: April 13 - June 17, 2023, Studio K

Opening Reception: Tuesday, April 18, 2022 from 5-7PM

About the exhibition:
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 second exhibition, C. Beck: Murals & Public Works offers observers a look into the many ways Charles Beck created work for public use throughout his career.

This exhibit showcases examples of sign-painting, advertisements, and photos of completed murals; some of which now only exist through photo documentation. Selected works are accompanied by their preliminary sketches and paintings, giving insight into how these often large-scale pieces were conceived, planned and created by Beck.

Also included are sketches and other preparatory work for the advertisements and sign painting he did in and around Fergus Falls early in his career. Pieces in this exhibit have been drawn from the Beck family and close friends’ personal collections.

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; support from the Frank W. Veden Charitable Trust and the Dell Trust.