Paula Swenson
Bemidji State University’s Talley Gallery hosted an artist talk and reception for artist Paula Swenson’s exhibit, “Looking for America.” Light refreshments were served and Swenson spent time discussing her art with TAD students.
“As an artist, I explore and interpret ideas, emotions and experiences,” Swenson said. “I look for the essential elements of a subject and find visual symbols to create a narrative. Artwork is a process of inspiration, meditation, investigation, creation, interpretation and intuition. Mystery is essential to art and to life, it is what keeps us questioning and questing.”
Swenson is an active artist in the Bemidji, Minn. art community and has exhibited both nationally and internationally. Her exhibit features paintings inspired by her observations as she traveled across America. The exhibit will be on display in the Talley Gallery from Nov. 6 – Dec. 13 and is free and open to the public.
Swenson’s work is made possible in part by a Region 2 Arts Council Artist Fellowship Award with funding from the McKnight Foundation.
About the Talley Gallery
Bemidji State University’s Talley Gallery was dedicated to the memory of Ila Mae Talley on Sept. 27, 1975. Talley joined the Bemidji State Teachers College faculty in 1946 and taught at the college until her death in 1963. During her tenure, she organized the Bemidji Creative Arts Center and the Minnesota Art Education Exchange, now known as the Art Educators of Minnesota. At BSC, she taught a variety of students in elementary art, techniques of weaving, introduction to art and methods of teaching art.
The Talley Gallery’s exhibits, collections and programs have supplemented BSU art education and cultivated a greater understanding of and appreciation for creative expression in the Bemidji region. Each year, the gallery hosts six visiting professional artists and juries three BSU student shows – two senior art shows and one scholarship show. All Talley Gallery activities are supported by the Bemidji State student activity fee.
Located in Bridgeman Hall room 140 on the campus of Bemidji State University, the Talley Gallery is barrier-free and open at no charge to the public. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Bemidji State University, located amid the lakes and forests of northern Minnesota, occupies a wooded campus along the shore of Lake Bemidji. Enrolling more than 5,100 students, Bemidji State offers more than 80 undergraduate majors and eight graduate degrees encompassing arts, sciences and select professional programs. BSU is a member of the Minnesota State system of colleges and universities and has a faculty and staff of more than 550. The university’s Shared Fundamental Values include environmental stewardship, civic engagement and international and multicultural understanding. For more, visit bemidjistate.edu or find us at BemidjiState on most of your favorite social media networks.
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