BAGLEY — “Participating in art, I think, is totally crucial to life,” said Cindy Kolling, an artist with two new exhibits in Bagley and Fosston over the next couple of months.
Kolling’s first exhibit is called “Illustrate Time and Place: Tallgrass Prairie Story” and will be at the Bagley Library Gallery through the end of January. A free artist talk there will be 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 16.
The painter from Gully joined Area Voices on Friday to share more about her artistic interests and the inspiration for her exhibits.
Tallgrass prairie, an ecosystem native to central North America, is an important subject to Kolling. The grasses grow tall, and they also have very long roots. Over time, the roots decompose, which makes the ground into a very rich soil.
Unfortunately, there’s not much of it left. This rich soil makes it a target for farmland. As soon as settlers invented a steel plow strong enough to cut through the roots, the number of tallgrass prairies dropped.
A case of mistaken identity
Kolling’s second exhibit is called “It’s Not Nothing. Those Aren’t Weeds” which will be at the Sorenson Gallery Fosston. It will be open mid-January through February 2024. It is a part of a series she started around 2018, where she focused on 12 native plants.
Inspiration for Kolling’s native plants series came to her on a morning walk.
She saw a person on a lawnmower aggressively moving back and forth on a flowering plant. She recognized it as a leadplant, a native plant that is great for pollinators and usually an indicator of very healthy soil. However, the farmer thought it was purple loosestrife, a noxious weed — they are similar-looking plants. Kolling thought to herself, it wasn’t that long ago when she couldn’t tell the difference either.
For Kolling, this was an opportunity to combine learning and art, where people can share their knowledge on aspects of the local ecosystem. Some people are bird experts, and some are plant experts — art can kickstart conversation and learning, she said.
Kolling's paintings are intricate and detailed, depicting things like the food chain from one piece to the next.
Seeing the art in the everyday
Kolling can’t remember a time in life when she wasn’t interested in art.
“I think I've always had some tendencies to that from when I was very, very little,” she said.
An aspect of her “Tallgrass Prairie” exhibit is a purple typewriter. She hopes people will be inspired by art to do a little creative writing. The writing will be added to a notebook to be a part of the exhibit as well.
Kolling said she hopes people will look at the pieces closer and think about the art subject a little harder. She said she believes people might get more engaged, go home and dig even deeper into the subject themselves.
She also said she has a strong philosophy that art is not separate from life, it’s integrated in everything. It isn’t just artists who matter, the audience participates, and it becomes a part of their life as well.
That’s what Kolling hopes comes from art. People leave the artwork with a change in understanding. She believes art is a very good communication tool and a good place to start.
“I guess people should just say, ‘Yep, I can learn, and I can create and it's kind of all the same.’”
Tell us about upcoming arts events where you live in Northern Minnesota by emailing psa@kaxe.org.
Area Voices is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.