In the Gallery: Jenny Field
Roots and Renewal
August 2 – September 2, 2023

All are invited to the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center Gallery to see the gallery exhibit Roots and Renewal by artist Jenny Field. This exhibit will be on display from August 2 – September 2, 2023.

Jenny creates out of her tiny garden art studio in rural Maine Township, MN, on the property where she and her husband John Opheim live. Jenny and John are currently renovating the 150-year-old Maine Store and the house attached to the store.

About the Show: Roots and Renewal

“Throughout my years as a visual artist, even though my style and subject matter often transform, the one constant has been my use of vibrant colors and my love of the changing seasons, untamed beauty, whimsy, and the perfect color palette of the natural surroundings of rural Otter Tail County MN. This is where my family roots are. It is where the roots of my heirloom gardens grow. It is where the roots of my pollinator gardens are anchored in beautiful black dirt.

Nature is where I find renewal and energy.

With my Roots and Renewal series, color saturates the canvases as I share inspiration and nature’s subject matter which has re-ignited my creative spark after the global pandemic dissolved my desire to create.

Nature brought back that creativity to me.

This series, with my signature vibrantly painted hues on canvas with various textures, shows how I capture and convey the emotional renewing strength of nature and the endless power of color.

Ultimately, I hope the audience can feel some renewing and positive energy through this bright series of works.”

 

Artist Statement: Jenny Field

“Creating has been my voice, my strength, my lifeline, my catharsis stemming from my earliest memories of life being raised as #5 out of 6 kids on a hard-working dairy farm 11 miles east of Erhard, Minnesota. Creating art has never stopped for me, and continues to my current life as a full-time artist still living in, and loving the Otter Tail County area.

After graduating from Pelican Rapids High School in 1987 I attended Moorhead State University and studied Fine Art and Art History. Shortly after, I attended Moorhead Technical College and received my associate’s degree in Commercial Art and Graphic Design. I worked as a graphic designer in Killeen, TX for a year, then returned to rural Otter Tail County.

It has been a diverse and colorful journey over the past 30 years as a professional rural artist in Minnesota. Much of my creative attention in the past was focused on decorative art, managing my seasonal arts and antiques business in the lakes area, being a mom, painting furniture, teaching art classes (for children and adults), painting commissions and murals for homes, museums, and businesses, doing art festivals, and selling wholesale art to nine gift shops in four surrounding states. I had limited time and energy to dedicate to my vivid contemporary work for galleries and solo exhibits.

However, with that limited time, I still managed a window of time that provided the opportunity over the years to create and exhibit artwork that leaned more towards the contemporary work that I loved creating.

The current artistic direction of my work is working primarily on canvas and art panels with vibrant hues, both complementary and contrasting colors, heavy texture on some and flowing softer lines on others, and occasionally limited palettes.

The subject matter in many pieces is my expression of how color, my natural surroundings, and symbolism have been influential in my life, and therefore in my journey through my work.

Although my works are created to individually stand on their own as objects of contemplation, symbolism, and occasional question, my goal is always to have my art pieces viewed as a colorful and exciting experience for the viewer, as they are forever a colorful and exciting experience for me to create.”

Gallery Hours:

The Gallery is always free to see and open to all. Gallery Hours are:

  • 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
  • Available for private tours, contact cheryl@kulcher.org

Call 218-385-3339 or email info@kulcher.org with any questions or to schedule a private gallery viewing.

A Gallery Reception is being planned; date to be announced.

The activity is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.