Minnesota
‘Dreaming’ big: Minnesota exhibit explores connections and rich history of Indigenous painters
Historian Brenda J. Child stares at a buttery yellow sky framed by converging treelines reflected upon a lake. The scene is a painting by Duluth-based artist Jonathan Thunder and it’s called “On the Grave of the Giant.”
Below the sky’s glow is a couple harvesting wild rice from a canoe. On the lake bottom are the skeletal remains of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.
The painting is on public view for the first time as part of the new exhibition “Dreaming Our Futures: Ojibwe and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ Artists and Knowledge Keepers” at the Katherine E. Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota.
Child, the Northrop Professor and Chair of the Department of American Studies and former Chair of American Indian Studies, co-curated the exhibition with gallery director Howard Oransky.
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Small canvases by late Minnesota Ojibwe painter George Morrison.
Alex V. Cipolle | MPR News
It features paintings by 29 mid-century and contemporary Ojibwe and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Dakota and Lakota) artists from, or connected to, the region.
It is the inaugural exhibition of the George Morrison Center for Indigenous Arts, an “interdepartmental study center to support the creation, presentation and interpretation of Indigenous art in all its forms.”
Child is the founder of the new center, which was sparked by the success of the 2016 Nash gallery exhibition that she curated, “Singing Our History: People and Places of the Red Lake Nation.”
Untitled 1959 artwork by George Morrison on loan from the collection of the Tweed Museum of Art at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Courtesy of George Morrison Estate
The center is named in honor of the internationally renowned abstract expressionist, a member of the Grand Portage Ojibwe from Minnesota, who died in 2000. Morrison also taught art at the University of Minnesota in the 1970s and 1980s.
“We tend to think in Minnesota, ‘Oh, George Morrison. He’s like a local guy who’s done well in the art world,’” Child says. “But he’s a very important figure in American abstract expressionism.”
Back in the gallery, Child is focused on that yellow sky. “What I really like about this work, and I wouldn’t have known this unless Jonathan had told me,” Child begins.
She pauses and walks to the opposite gallery wall, which features a string of paintings by the famous mid-century painter Patrick DesJarlait. Like Child and Thunder, DesJarlait was from the Red Lake Nation in northern Minnesota. DesJarlait is one of their heroes, she says.
“Because I come from a family of fishermen and women -even my grandmother was a commercial fisherwoman- I’ve always loved his painting in the collection of the Minnesota Museum of Art called ‘Red Lake Fishermen,’” says curator Brenda J. Child. The 1946 watercolor painting is by Patrick DesJarlait of the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe.
Courtesy of Minnesota Museum of American Art
In addition to paintings like “Red Lake Fisherman” (also on view), DesJarlait is also famous for his 1950s redesign of the Land O’Lakes maiden, adding an Ojibwe floral pattern to her attire.
“So Jonathan’s nod to Patrick is the bright butter yellow that he used in this painting,” Child says.
Over the phone from his Duluth studio, Thunder says Land O’Lakes discontinued DesJarlait’s design, and the maiden, in 2020, soon before he began working on the painting in 2021.
“With the yellow sky in that painting and the two points of land that come together, that’s obviously a nod to the Land O’Lakes butter box,” Thunder says. “From what I understand, the two points of land that come together, they can be seen in Red Lake where the upper and lower Red Lake kind of join.”
“Different Star Woman,” 2023, by Los Angeles-based Spirit Lake Dakota and Diné artist Avis Charley. Another work by Charley on view in the exhibition, the 2022 “Smile Now, Cry Later” is the first artwork by a Dakota artist purchased by the Minnesota Museum of Art.
Courtesy of Avis Charley
That year, Thunder had gone to see the Red Lake vista.
“It was like seeing a cartoon come to life or something,” Thunder says. “It’s very much a tribally significant image with or without the butter maiden.”
Thunder says the painting was also inspired by the time when he and his wife decided to learn how to harvest wild rice around Walker, Minn. In the painting, a pipeline takes the shape of a tentacle reaching into the canoe above the watery grave of Bunyan and Babe.
“At the time, the Line Three protests were happening across Minnesota and I was starting to see some of the division it was creating in the communities there,” Thunder explains. ”You see statues of Paul Bunyan kind of littered throughout the landscape, which is significant of a time when they were coming through clearing forests. Paul Bunyan was the noble face of that cause. In the wake of all that, it’s nice to see that people can still go out and rice and practice those traditional ways.”
“Ultime Grida Dalla Savana,” a 2011 painting by Ojibwe artist Andrea Carlson on loan from the collection of the Plains Art Museum.
Courtesy of Andrea Carlson
Thunder says he’s excited to be placed in the gallery next to DesJarlait, an artist “I’ve seen my whole life.” He adds that, when he was growing up in the Twin Cities, he used to play basketball at the Minneapolis American Indian Center. It was there he discovered the 94-foot-long wood mural “Turning the Feather Around” that Morrison created in 1974 (and which was recently restored and reinstalled).
“That’s a huge development for the campus,” Thunder says of the new center.
“Dreaming Our Futures” is a web of these overt and covert dialogues and relationships between artworks, artists and generations. Oscar Howe “is a mid century artist, and he was kind of awesome in that he was moving in his own direction,” says curator Brenda J. Child. Pictured here is Howe’s 1975 painting “Creation of Weotanica” on loan from the collection of the University of South Dakota.
Courtesy of Oscar Howe Family
On view, of course, are the abstracted rainbow-colored canvases of Morrison himself, as well as the paintings of other blue chip artists such as Dyani White Hawk, Frank Big Bear, Jim Denomie, Oscar Howe and Andrea Carlson.
“I felt very privileged to be considered part of something like ‘Dreaming Our Futures,’ that big and centered around our artists and our worldview,” says Bismarck-based artist Holly Young.
Courtesy photo
“This exhibit shows the history of American Indian art, fine art, in the United States and where it’s been in the last half-century, especially with Howe, Morrison and DesJarlait,” Child explains.
“Dreaming Our Futures” acts as an important marker in time, too: Fifty years ago, Morrison, DesJarlait and Howe participated in an exhibition of contemporary Indian painting in Washington, D.C. Child says that “Dreaming Our Futures” also shows how contemporary artists “have been very influenced by those foundational figures.”
A watercolor painting on view by ledger artist Holly Young.
Courtesy photo
These include artists like Thunder and Dakota artist Holly Young, of Bismarck, N.D. Young uses the mediums of beadwork, quillwork, and ledger art, an art form that originated in cave and hide painting that has evolved to also use parchment and actual historical “ledger” documents as a canvas.
Young also created the illustration for the cover of “The Seed Keeper,” the 2021 novel by Minnesota Native writer Diane Wilson, the wife of Denomie. Denomie died in 2022. Wilson wrote an essay, “Jim Denomie at Home,” for the exhibition catalog.
Four of Young’s ledger-style watercolor paintings are on view, featuring Native women dressed in a combination of historical regalia and contemporary attire. “A lot of what I draw is kind of based off of real life,” Young says. “I enjoy the look of the old things, but I’m also living in today’s world as a contemporary artist.”
One of the oldest operating theaters in the Midwest is in danger of closing its doors for good.
If you’re heading south on Highway 15, Fairmont, Minnesota, is your last gasp before you hit Iowa. It officially became a city in the late 1800s — and not long after, the Opera House was born.
“We are the oldest, operating, continuously operating theater in the state of Minnesota,” said Jane Reiman, a lifelong resident of Fairmont.
When the doors opened in 1901, operas, musicals, plays, and concerts—drew people from across southern Minnesota, and even from Iowa and South Dakota.
“We have done a lot of entertainment over the years.”
The rock band America once performed at the opera house, as did folk legend Arlo Guthrie. In the 1990’s, the opera house even got a visit from Paul McCartney. His family bought seats.
“They came here and sat in the chairs, and now we have plaques on the chairs to memorialize them.”
In 3rd grade Blake Potthoff went to his first performance at the theater, and later, he acted on stage.
“You’ve grown up with this opera house?” asked WCCO’s John Lauritsen.
“Yeah. Absolutely, it’s a part of me even before I became executive director,” said Potthoff.
But like everything else, the theater has aged over time, to the point that it’s going to cost more than $4 million just to keep it running. If they can’t raise the money, the Opera House may have already seen its final curtain call.
“The building is on life support, and we are doing everything we can to make sure we get back to surviving and thriving,” said Potthoff.
Scaffolding is there, just to reinforce the roof; that’s the biggest expense. But the Fairmont community is starting to respond. Grants and donations have raised $1.5 million so far—still short, but a start.
When renovations are complete, they’d also like to maintain the old character of this theater. That includes this hand-cast plaster, which is also 125-years-old.
The chandeliers were installed a decade before the Titanic sank, and they’re hoping to keep those too. For Blake and others, the show has to go on. For the people in the seats, the actors on stage, and for the livelihood of a small town.
“There’s reason to save this building. That $4 million isn’t impossible. Only improbable. And I truly believe it too. I have a history of performing here. And I have two young kids. I want them to perform on stage like I had the opportunity,” said Potthoff.
WASHINGTON (TNND) — Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) called on Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to resign during the House Oversight Committee’s hearing on the widespread fraud in Minnesota.
Higgins began his line of questioning by referring to Ellison’s open statement.
“Under Minnesota law, my Office has limited jurisdiction over criminal matters. The only kind of criminal case we can prosecute on our own is Medicaid fraud; any other criminal case must be specifically referred to us by county attorneys or the Governor,” Ellison said in his opening statement.
Higgins stated Ellison said that his office only had the authority to investigate Medicaid fraud, to which Ellison nodded his head in response.
But, Higgins pointed out that was incorrect.
“Under your own law, you have authority if the county district attorney asks you to get involved, or if the governor asks you to get involved, then your office can take the lead on any criminal investigation,” Ellison said.
Ellison remained speechless after Higgins asked him if that his statement was correct.
“So you have the authority to lead your state’s effort to respond to this massive fraud at the state level, from within the health care realm, where government money has been stolen at very, very high levels, unprecedented levels, in your state,” Higgins said.
“Are you leading that effort for the state of Minnesota?”
Ellison replied but his response was not picked up by the microphone.
“You’re addressing it,” Higgins asked. “Are you leading it?”
Ellison responded, “we are leading the effort to prosecute Medicaid fraud.”
“I’m not talking about Medicaid fraud,” Higgins yelled.
“Don’t hide behind that. You have the authority to prosecute anything criminally that the governor asked you to. And this thing is big.”
“I’m giving you an opportunity, sir. Are you leading the criminal investigative effort into this massive fraud across the board in the healthcare spectrum, in the state of Minnesota or not,” Higgins continued.
Ellison replied, saying his office was “following the law,” prompting Higgins to interject.
“You are not leading,” Higgins responded. “You’re not leading. I must say, Mr. Chairman, that the Attorney General of Minnesota should resign.”
Maddy Kimbrel joined an illustrious group of players as Minnesota’s 2026 Ms. Hockey winner. The award is annually given to the best high school women’s hockey player in the state of Minnesota.
The Holy Family forward scored 37 goals and 57 points this season in only 26 games for her school.
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She was also an assistant captain for Team USA at the 2026 U-18 World Championships winning gold. It was her second time representing USA at the event.
Kimbrel spent four seasons playing for Orono High before moving to Holy Family this season.
The 17-year-old Mound, Minnesota product is headed to the University of Wisconsin next season.
The other four finalists for the award were Alaina Gentz (Centennial/SLP), Jasmine Hovda (Roseau), Lorelai Nelson (Edina), and Mia Miller (Northfield).
Past winners of the award include current PWHL players such as Taylor Heise (2018), Peyton Hemp (2021), Olivia Mobley (2020), Grace Zumwinkle (2017), and Hannah Brandt (2012), and 2024 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Krissy Wendell-Pohl.
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