Feb 26 – Apr 5, 2025
Fiber Artists Kristi Swee Kudor, Mary Jo Wentz, Kristen Anderson, and Elyse Olson
Reception Fri, Mar 21 @ 4-6PM
The New York Mills Regional Cultural Center is pleased to announce its new gallery exhibit: “Interwoven,” in the gallery from February 26 through April 5, 2025.
A Gallery Reception will be held on Friday, March 21, 2025 from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. The public is invited to join us for a chance to meet the artists, view the artwork, and enjoy refreshments. There is no cost to attend, and all are welcome.
Interwoven features four talented fiber artists: Kristi Swee Kuder, Mary Jo Wentz, Kristen Anderson, and Elyse Olsen. These four artists work in different methods and with different materials but their attention to detail and design weaves them together.
Artist Statements:
Elyse Olson
At age 17 at the Decorah, IA Norwegian Festival, I was awed and inspired by the intricate fine cut hooked wool tapestries displayed from the local rug school. It was like walking into an art show, every tapestry was a master piece. The design quality and artistic expression were what motivated me to learn everything there was about this art medium. It is what drives me today – more than 40 years later.
Traditional Hooked Rugs are an American Folk Art that has been popular in the New England States dating back to the 1800’s. Pioneer women would create rugs, pillows, and comforters for their homes. The Association of Traditional Hooking Artists has kept this art form alive for over 100 years.
I am an NDSU graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. I have a minor in Statistics and Gerontology. I have worked as a Program Director at Rebuilding Together Fargo Moorhead Area and am currently a driver for Clay County Social Services. I take clients to their appointments and family visits. I am facilitating NAMI Connections support group on Mondays at St Genevieve’s Place in Fargo, ND. I have been a facilitator since 2010 when I became trained and certified by NAMI. I have been a certified McGown teacher for 10 years. I sell my hooked tapestries at Art of the Lakes in Battle Lake, MN and demonstrate throughout the year.
Kristen Anderson
Kristen Anderson is a fiber artist, creating wool felt tapestries and rugs using a traditional wet felting technique. Her felt pieces are inspired by the natural world and amplify the work of ecological practitioners. Kristen works in her Bigfork, MN studio, located in the Chippewa National Forest where she balances studio work and farming.
Kristen received her B.A. in Biology and Art from St. Olaf College and mentored with master feltmaker Mary Reichert Sannerud at Otlak Felt Studio. She learned feltmaking at a spinning rendezvous over 20 years ago and dabbled in it for years until devoting a deeper commitment to studio work about 8 years ago. She has had solo exhibits of her work and has contributed work to numerous group shows in Minnesota. More information can be found at her website: www.cardamomstudio.org.
Kristi Swee Kuder
Kristi Swee Kuder is a multi-disciplinary artist with a BS degree from Minnesota State University – Moorhead, MN. She has taught workshops and intensives throughout Minnesota and serves as a board member and chair of the Art of the Lakes, Assoc. in Battle Lake.
Kristi is a 2016 alumnus of St. Catherine University Women’s Art Institute, an LRAC McKnight Fellow and multiple MSAB Artist Initiative Grant recipient. Ms. Kuder’s works have been in solo and group exhibitions regionally, nationally, and internationally, and included in Surface Design Journal International Exhibition in Print: Soft Borders, September 2019 issue as well as October 2020 issue, Devotion, Stitching the Sacred.
A working artist, Ms. Kuder maintains her studio near her residence at Otter Tail Lake, MN. More information about her and her work can be found at her website, kskuder.com.
Mary Jo Wentz
Born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, I came to Blanche Lake every summer to a family cabin. My husband, Ken, and I raised our two children in California where we taught for 23 years until we retired in 2010 and moved to our home on Blanche Lake.
My interest in art took fruition first in painting with alcohol inks learned at an art retreat in Chicago in 2012. In 2019 I learned needle felting at a small class at New York Mills Regional Cultural Center. We now divide our time between here and Omaha where our children and grandchildren live and I continue to felt and work in fiber art.
Plan Your Visit:
This gallery exhibit is free to see and open to the public during regular business hours, thanks to the generous support of our members and donors.
Gallery Hours:
- Wednesdays 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
- Thursdays 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
- Fridays 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- Saturdays 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
- Closed Sundays/Mondays/Tuesdays; private viewings available.
Call 218-385-3339 or email cheryl@kulcher.org with any questions or to schedule a private gallery viewing.
