Since 2003, the International Owl Center has hosted its children’s art competition in Houston, Minnesota. It started as a way for local kids to celebrate a hatch-day party for an owl at the center, inviting young artists to submit finished coloring pages.  

Twenty-some years later, anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 entries come in from 30 to 50 countries for its International Festival of Owls, Executive Director Karla Bloem says. It’s unlike any event in the country, she says. 

Photo Credit: International Festival of Owls

“It wound up taking on a life of its own,” says Bloem, crediting the internet as well as a prize for art received from the furthest away. “It’s indescribable to see.” 

• The who: children from birth to age 18, from just down the street or from Indonesia or Australia, send in their art every year.  
• The what: handmade, 2D art of an owl, with no help from adults or artificial intelligence.  
• The why: teaching people about owls, raising money for a new center, and promoting tourism toward the end of winter. 

A local artist panel judges the submissions on technique, composition, and emotion. All the entries are kept and displayed at the International Owl Center, local galleries, museums, and history centers. Some are even featured on streetlamp banners in town, year-round.  

Photo Credit: International Owl Center

Photo Credit: International Owl Center

Photo Credit: International Festival of Owls

Photo Credit: International Owl Center

Photo Credit: International Festival of Owls

Photo Credit: International Owl Center

During the festival, storefronts show off the art; the center sells images on greetings cards and t-shirts; others auction upwards of $1,000 with proceeds going towards groups like UNICEF Ukraine. 

“These kids have put so much effort into it,” Bloem says. “You can see a bunch of it on our social media, but it is so much more beautiful to see in person than a digital version online.” 

Mckinley Knights entered the competition armed with bright colored pencils. The 10-year-old’s bedroom in Trempealeau, Wisconsin, is complete with a hand painted mural with a snowy owl—she’s a lover of birds, sharing how owls have great hearing and eyesight and make no noise when they fly. 

Photo Credit: Ashley Knights

“I’ve drawn a lot of owls, but I like owls, so it was kind of easy,” she says, adding she drew a barred owl for the competition. “My owl was blue, purple, and pink. So like, it took a while because I was like putting them in slots together. It was like mixed up with like all the cold colors and then my background was the warm colors.” 

Throughout the festival, which runs for one weekend in March, Houston second graders perform an aptly themed owl song together. People can build owl nest boxes and create crafts. There are art vendors (the nocturnal birds of prey offer heavy inspiration.) 

There’s even an owl calling contest, which Mckinley proudly participated in, amid plenty of educational programming and live bird demonstrations. 

And nodding to its quiet beginnings, there’s also a birthday cake for that same great horned owl who’s now retired from the center. Happy hatch day, Alice!  

The post Minnesota Owl Birthday Party Takes Off as a Global Art Competition appeared first on Arts Midwest.

WTIP North Shore Community Radio sits in an old canoe outfitter building in Grand Marais, Minnesota. Population: 1,500 (-ish). One of those people is Katie Belanger, the station’s development director.  

“Our mission is to connect, reflect, and build community on the North Shore,” Belanger says. It’s also a definitive spot for news, resources, and emergency information. “We like to see ourselves as the mouthpiece of what’s happening in the community.” 

Photo Credit: Amy “frankie” Felegy / Arts Midwest

And there’s a lot happening: Grand Marais is known as an artsy town with undeniable natural beauty. It’s a major tourism hub that brings out creativity in both visiting and Grand Marais folks, who are often multi-dimensional. Local janitors are also prolific musicians. Your engineer neighbor also bakes or knits.  

“I think there’s something really special about a community that fosters art and music and outdoor activities and elevates that to a level of importance,” Belanger says. 

WTIP is the oldest community radio station broadcasting on Minnesota’s North Shore, the 150+ mile Lake Superior coastline that runs northeast from Duluth to Canada.  

It was formed in 1998 by folks gathered around a kitchen table, then moved to a closet (promotion!) in an arts building attached to a local school. Now, the station reaches Canada and across the lake to parts of Wisconsin and Michigan. 

Photo Credit: Amy “frankie” Felegy / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Amy “frankie” Felegy / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Amy “frankie” Felegy / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Amy “frankie” Felegy / Arts Midwest

Local artists fill the airwaves through arts and culture programming. WTIP broadcasts an impressive number of music shows each week—highlighting local events or simply inviting folks to come in and share their top three songs. 

“We’re putting a spotlight on [local art],” says WTIP music director Will Moore, who heads all those programs. “If you are an artist or doing any sort of event up here, we want to cover that.” 

He went to an open mic night recently, just across the street from the station. Moore says a person from St. Paul, Minnesota, was skiing in the area and stopped in for a visit. 

Photo Credit: Amy “frankie” Felegy / Arts Midwest

“And he gets up there with this guitar they just had, and he was incredible. I’m like, ‘Dude, how long are you in town? Like, do you want to come on my show?’ And he came on, and it was great,” Moore says. 

Instances like this highlight what WTIP staff say is a general lack of ego in the city. It’s reflected in their programming, despite recent funding cuts (by 25%) with the Corporation of Public Broadcasting’s dissolution.  

Still, the station puts local art and music on its shoulders, perhaps because the community does the same for WTIP. Local kids participate in end-of-the-school-year programming. Visiting parents of staff members mic up for shows. Art is simply part of the people of Grand Marais. 

The station hums with small-town connectiveness, joyful talent, and the Midwestern energy that says, Yeah, we’re kinda rad here. 

“There’s always cool people making cool things everywhere,” Moore says. “It doesn’t just have to be like New York and LA. It can be in the middle of the woods.” 

The post Tune In to Togetherness: Small Town Radio Builds Culture and Connection appeared first on Arts Midwest.

For 15 years, Kingfield Empty Bowls has joined grassroots organizers across the Midwest and world, fundraising for neighbors in need. Empty Bowls founders John Hartom and Lisa Blackburn organized the first event in Michigan in the 1990s for art students to create change in their community.

Photo Credit: Alana Horton / Arts Midwest

Ashley Annett is the community coordinator with the Kingfield Neighborhood Association, which puts on the event each year. She sets the scene during ‘Soup-er Bowl Sunday’ this winter: 

“You come in, you’re greeted by a volunteer or two, you go downstairs, you pick out your artist-made bowl,” Annett says.  

Those bowls are all made and donated by local potters or locals who want to try their hand at it. The neighborhood organization even hosts painting parties for folks to glaze them before sending off the bowls—which numbered nearly 800 this year—to get fired at local studios.

At their fundraising event, folks can donate (the suggested amount ranges from $25 to $40) to local organizations before filling up their bowls. Annett says around $18,000 was funneled right back to the community, through these donations and non-bowl ceramic raffle tickets.  

Photo Credit: Alana Horton / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Alana Horton / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Alana Horton / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: emptybowls.com

Local benefactors include Twin Cities Food Justice, a local Meals on Wheels chapter, and a Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative home for youth out of the foster care system. Partner organizations set up at tables throughout for people to learn more information. 

“It’s just a very good communication forum and togetherness sort of building day,” Annett says. “It’s just like cozy and heartwarming, truly. It’s just a wholesome event that is for literally everyone, our community and beyond.” 

Over a dozen local restaurants donate their soup and bread to hundreds of attendees; volunteers serve it up. Live accordion music plays; some people create handmade valentines to be delivered with the Meals on Wheels program. People connect—through delicious food, mutual aid, and responding to the real need for food security and stable housing. All in the same room. 

“Now, more than ever, people want to be in their community,” Annett says. “Looking at each other’s faces, supporting each other, being together, and helping one another.”

The post Pottery with a Purpose: Serve Soup and Fund Community Needs appeared first on Arts Midwest.

In recent months, artists and arts organizations across the state have stepped forward amid ICE activity, mobilizing as first responders and cultural stewards for their neighbors. 

Minnesota’s arts community has shown that it is an essential civic anchor, holding space for care, dialogue, and collective response when it is needed most.

Creative Care

Arts Midwest and our partners are honored to sustain, strengthen, and amplify the vital work of arts organizations in this moment through the MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund, a pooled fund.

100% of funds raised are going directly to 16 organizations that reflect the breadth and strength of Minnesota’s arts ecosystem, supporting their general operating expenses. If more funds are raised, we seek to strengthen and extend this rapid response effort.

The organizations supported through this fund include spaces for gathering and healing, artist-centered hubs, culture-bearing institutions, and rural and statewide networks.

They have provided emergency resources, supported youth and families, distributed mutual aid, documented the impact of brutality and violence, funded artists’ creative interventions, and opened spaces for connection, healing, and collective processing. They are responding in ways that are locally rooted, culturally specific, and urgently needed.

Photo Credit: Greggory_Addison

Photo Credit: Forecast Public Art

About the MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund

MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund is a time-sensitive pooled fund created by Arts Midwest and the Jerome Foundation in partnership with other philanthropic partners and donors.

This fund exists alongside the Artist Emergency Relief Fund Network, led by Springboard for the Arts and Minnesota’s Regional Arts Councils, which provides direct emergency support to individual artists across the state.  Together, these efforts reflect a coordinated, community-led response—supporting both institutions and individuals during an ongoing crisis. 

We are grateful to share that 10 partners have joined MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund, and together, have raised more than $330,000. All funds raised are going directly to Minnesota arts organizations on the ground.

Support for MN Arts Rise and Respond is provided by the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation Rapid Response Fund. Support is also provided by an anonymous donor.

An Ongoing Need

The MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund remains open, as the needs that gave rise to this fund are ongoing. Frontline efforts have come at real cost: increased staffing and security needs, emergency planning, unexpected demands on space and resources, disrupted programming, and lost revenue.

Any additional contributions will further strengthen and extend this rapid response effort, supporting arts organizations doing the essential work of community healing, wellness, and repair.    

We invite funders to continue standing with Minnesota and Minnesota’s arts community.

The post Announcing the MN Arts Rise and Respond Fund appeared first on Arts Midwest.

North House Folk School itself occupies a couple of old forest service buildings, its campus shaking hands with Lake Superior’s shores and a lively, small city. Driving north up the scenic route, you can’t enter Grand Marais, Minnesota, without driving through the school grounds. 

“There’s lots of reasons people come to Cook County,” like outdoor recreation, says Program Director Jessa Frost. “But North House is a really year-round consistent part of what the draw is.”  

Photo Credit: frankie felegy / Arts Midwest

The school’s most recent financial study found it had a $14 million yearly impact on the local economy. That’s, in part, due to North House’s employees and instructors who live in the county—plus drawing a consistent (and hungry) crowd of students to local restaurants throughout the year, Frost says. 

 Hosting over 3,000 students annually, the school puts on hundreds of classes. Learners make clothing, baskets, and bread, and work with leather, wood, and beads. Some even participate as resident artisans, interns, and work-study learners, creating with others from across the Midwest, country, and even world.  

Photo Credit: frankie felegy / Arts Midwest

She sees how craft can bridge differences, as well as gaps in traditional knowledge. 

“And that is the work of the folk school right now. I am really intrigued with this idea of folk schools as menders, right? Our society—and our traditions . . . a lot of things—have been torn and damaged,” Frost says. 

Whether it’s learning ancestral recipes or about the plants we live with (and what we can do with them), that knowledge is “sacred work,” she says. It helps people care more about the land and where our creative resources come from. Even if that just starts as a three-day weekend course, she says. 

“Bit by bit by bit by bit, just little pieces of it, are strengthened when eight people walk out of here knowing how to process flax, as opposed to one person who grew up on a farm in Sweden growing it,” Frost says. 

Danica Oudeans of Hortonville, Wisconsin, recently took her first classes at North House: Gamp weaving and yarn handspinning. The painter is experimenting with how fiber arts can play into her work, with increasing focus on the long story behind, say, a weaving. 

“The history of people interacting either with animals or plants kind of builds that narrative into a useful object,” she says. “In my graduate work in painting, I did embroidery integrated into my paintings, but never really thought about the history of it at the time. I was only thinking about the pattern, but not the fibers.” 

Those fibers—or whatever people are working with—hold not just narratives but wellbeing and meditation, Frost says.  

Photo Credit: frankie felegy / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: frankie felegy / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: frankie felegy / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: Danica Oudeans

Photo Credit: frankie felegy / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: frankie felegy / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: frankie felegy / Arts Midwest

Photo Credit: frankie felegy / Arts Midwest

“When you strip everything away, craft and learning is a really powerful way to be connected to the land, to be connected to your community, to be connected to the things that you touch and see and surround yourself with,” Frost says. 

And here at this folk school, artisans and craft appreciators alike are living that simple wisdom: Find what moors you, and knit—or weave, or hammer, or braid—yourself to it. 

The post North House: The Scenic Route Back to the Human Spirit appeared first on Arts Midwest.

“It wasn’t right away,” remembers keyboardist Matt Fink, known as “Dr. Fink” in The Revolution — Prince’s band in the Purple Rain era. “Once Purple Rain made Prince an international superstar, that’s when I think the phrase was coined.”

Prince was the key figure shaping the Minneapolis Sound, but there’s a reason it wasn’t just called “the Prince Sound.” In addition to Prince and artists working directly with him (The Time, Sheila E., Vanity 6), the term encompassed music by Minneapolis artists like hitmaking production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

“I always find that so fascinating that it developed that way in Minneapolis,” says Minneapolis music writer Ali Elabbady. “For that sound to define the future of pop, R&B, funk, and even to an extent hip-hop.”

What Did it Sound Like?

The Minneapolis Sound grew out of a scene that had long been rich in Black music. To name just two, the fathers of both Prince (John L. Nelson) and Jimmy Jam (Cornbread Harris) were musicians who inspired the next generation.

It was rooted in funk and R&B, but incorporated prominent rock elements like showy guitar solos. The drums were crisp and machine-like, while pealing synths often took the place of a horn section.

“Prince was thinking, ‘Let’s make the keyboards not necessarily sound like horns, but imply that it’s a horn punch,’” explains Fink. “That was innovative.”

The effect, in songs like Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” and The Time’s “Jungle Love,” was music that rocked your body like classic funk but had an electronic texture that sounded like the future. The music also had a rock punch that begged listeners to crank the volume.

 

Prince inspired Minneapolis musicians “to build upon funk like Rick James, but to also give a nod to so many styles of R&B that came prior,” says Elabbady. “To crystallize [that music] and totally reshape it.”

Jam and Lewis, who were rivals with Prince in their early years and later became his collaborators, produced a staggering string of hits at Flyte Tyme Studios in Minneapolis. Most notably, they collaborated with Janet Jackson throughout her rise to superstardom.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Hennepin County Library

Photo Credit: MCA

Photo Credit: Matt Fink

Photo Credit: Warner Bros.

Photo Credit: A&M

All Roads Lead to …

“Minneapolis!” cried Jackson in “Escapade,” one of four chart-toppers on her 1989 album Rhythm Nation 1814.

“Prince laid the foundation,” says Elabbady, “but acts like the Jets, André Cymone, and others would build upon it.”

By the 1990s, Prince himself had moved on to new collaborators and new sounds. The larger music landscape was also evolving.

“Things shifted considerably as the grunge movement started in the early ’90s,” says Fink. “Synthesizers died for a while in the music industry.”

Ironically, the grunge movement was also inspired by the Minneapolis scene: scrappy Twin Cities bands like the Replacements and Hüsker Dü were seminal influences on bands like Nirvana.

“It’s not fair that you would just define the Minneapolis Sound as coming from Prince,” says Fink. “What should really be looked at is all the artists that were popular out of Minneapolis, Minnesota at the time.”

The post How the Minneapolis Sound Defined the ’80s appeared first on Arts Midwest.

These three, along with 15 other Midwestern communities, made 2025’s top 100 arts-vibrant areas across the U.S.  

In its tenth study, SMU DataArts released its Arts Vibrancy Index—a measure of “supply, demand, and public support for arts and culture at the community level.” 

Adjusted for cost of living and population, researchers analyzed arts providers, government support, and arts dollars in communities in all 50 states.  

Minnesota’s Minneapolis/St. Paul/Bloomington region ranked #18 out of 100, the “most vibrant” arts-wise in the Midwest. That’s followed by Chicago/Naperville/Schaumburg, Illinois, and Kalamazoo/Portage, Michigan, at #26 and #31, respectively. 

Photo Credit: The Darkroom Chicago

We talked with arts leaders in a couple of these top communities, including Galesburg, Illinois, and Spearfish, South Dakota. 

“We have this deep-rooted history of supporting the arts,” says Tuesday Çetin, executive director of the Galesburg Community Arts Center in Illinois. “Arts have been just part of the fabric of Galesburg for generations.” 

The Arts Center has been around for over 100 years, old enough to witness Galesburg’s longstanding railroad industry. The city’s Amtrak train station connects to Chicago, bringing students and artists to and from Galesburg cyclically, Çetin says. The city is also home to Blick Art Materials and late artists Carl Sandburg and Dorothea Tanning. 

Photo Credit: Joanna Mechaley

Galesburg boasts historic venues like its symphony, civic theatre, and performing arts theatre. Jazz music often rings out; poetry keeps pens moving; folks come out to see new visual art works. 

“The arts thrive here in our area,” Çetin says. “It is something that’s deeply invested in by individuals and community members. And I think for a smaller Rust Belt community, it’s the fabric that has kept a very consistent economy going.” 

Across Iowa and far west into South Dakota is Spearfish, South Dakota—a fellow art-loving city less than half the population size of Galesburg. 

Award-winning artist Anna Robins is a filmmaker, composer, and arts advocate in Spearfish. She nods to Spearfish’s enormous arts and music festival each year, a robust music scene, ‘Termesphere’ artist, and opera house.  

“With a lot of small towns around us, the interesting thing about this area is there’s so much crossover between town,” Robins says, noting the “crossover” extends to cultures, landscapes, and people. 

“Spearfish has a vibrant art scene because there’s all these other small towns around us that come here to gather and to express and to display.” 

The Midwest Numbers

The Arts Vibrancy Index defines communities based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s CBSAs (Core Based Statistical Areas). Those are “core urban areas” and adjacent counties “with strong economic and social ties.” The top Midwest areas on the list are: 

The post Creative Cities: The Most Arts-Vibrant Areas Across the Midwest appeared first on Arts Midwest.

For more than 35 years, Davis has been one of rural America’s most visionary arts leaders. His work has centered around weaving arts into the fabric of small communities, connecting economic impact with innovation.

Photo Credit: Marie Bergman

Davis began his career founding the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center, where he launched programs like the Great American Think-Off, a national philosophy competition that continues to draw participants from across the country.

During his time as Executive Director of Lanesboro Arts, he spent nearly two decades reimagining the entire town as an Arts Campus. Under his guidance, Lanesboro became the first small town in the nation to adopt a citywide arts campus proclamation, was named one of the top 12 Small Town Artplaces in America, and saw more than $3.3 million in investment in its downtown and creative infrastructure.

Most recently, as the first Executive & Artistic Director of Warroad RiverPlace in northern Minnesota, Davis has shepherded the development and activation of a 20,000 sq. ft. arts, culture, and event center—a $20 million project with a mission of bringing the community together through innovative access to arts and culture.

Across every chapter of his career, Davis has championed rural creativity, cross-sector collaboration, and the belief that small towns deserve big artistic ideas. In celebration of his efforts, he has received a $2,500 unrestricted cash award from Arts Midwest.

About the Peter Capell Award

Established in 2022 to honor the legacy of longtime Arts Midwest Board member and former Board Chair, the Peter Capell Award for Midwestern Creativity & Entrepreneurship recognizes individuals whose work exemplifies entrepreneurial thinking, creative accomplishments, and a commitment to community.

This year’s award focused on individuals based in Minnesota. Details about next year’s award will be available in 2026.

Q&A: John Davis on Cultivating Rural Creativity

Photo Credit: Betsy Roder

You’ve spent your career showing how rural communities can be national leaders in creativity. What led you down this path?

After graduating from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, I knew I wanted to live in rural America. I bought an abandoned farm outside New York Mills, Minnesota.

I really didn’t have a plan other than wanting to be involved in the arts. I painted barns to make money and listened to farmers, community members, senior citizens about their hopes and dreams for the future.

As it turns out, there was a yearning for the arts, just no access in a small rural community. I wanted to change that narrative.

So that’s what led me down this path. Listening.

Your motto is “the audience is everyone.” How has that shaped your leadership?

I came to my philosophy of “the audience is everyone” when I started working in New York Mills to renovate the first brick building in town into a cultural center and start an artist residency program. It seemed obvious that in a town of about 1,000 people, it was critical to reach everyone.

That’s when a friend gave me a toy plastic tractor and I had my ah-ha moment. The tractor would be the logo for the organization. The mission: Cultivate the arts.

Cultivation takes time. The day-to-day challenge was simply how to make art, culture and creativity relevant in everyday people’s lives. Do that with your programming, and you have your buy in and your audience.

Photo Credit: Courtesy Lanesboro Arts

You’ve partnered with beef councils, veterans groups, senior centers, civic government and more. How do you approach bringing such different groups into the arts? 

Sometimes it’s as straightforward as having a cup of coffee and starting a dialogue. It’s really not even about having an “arts conversation.” It’s more important to listen and learn how to make arts, culture and creativity relevant in people’s lives.

This can mean having conversations about the arts honoring veterans, or how the arts can help solve civic challenges.  Or, showing the value of the arts as a tool for economic development, rural narrative uplift and positive publicity. Or, engaging and cultivating the creativity of young people.

It’s all about inviting people to share ideas. Nontraditional partnerships expand your audience!

Photo Credit: Yvonne Meyer

Transforming a town into an arts campus or opening a $20 million cultural center takes long-term vision. What helps you stay focused?

For me it’s really not about focus, it’s about being patient and planting seeds of ideas.

It took 7 years for the Lanesboro Arts Campus vision to become a shared vision, and 15 years from concept to City Council proclamation declaring the entire community an Arts Campus.

In Warroad, it took guided hard hat tours of a 20,000 sq ft. facility under construction with civic organizations, teachers, school children, farmers and business owners to ask for their ideas for programming in order to get buy-in and to help create that shared vision.

Sometimes it just takes time to cultivate unique ideas that can spark community engagement and narrative shift. The Poetry Parking Lot in Lanesboro is one example. We replaced ordinary parking signage with regional poetry, solving a civic challenge and connecting visitor parking to downtown businesses.

What’s inspiring you lately? 

In September of 2025 Warroad RiverPlace culminated a one-year rural/urban partnership with Mixed Blood Theater who created a play by, for, with and about the people and cultures of Warroad. We had three sold out performances with dialog in Spanish and English.

In addition, we just hosted a “Festival of Cultures” with 12 different cultures represented through food, music, storyboards and dance. Cultures represented included Laos, the Philippines, Cuba, Mexico, Norway, South Africa, Venezuela, Native America, Haiti, Canada, Puerto Rico and Nicaragua.

We had no idea if this event would work, however we had 50 people waiting in line for our doors to open, and over 450 attendees for the 3-hour event. (Warroad’s population is 1,983 for context.)

Two Laotian elders who were not planning on performing spontaneously took the stage to perform traditional Laotian music and dance. Multiple generations posed for selfies in front of their food and cultural booths. The definition of inspiring!

The post John Davis Receives 2025 Peter Capell Award for Midwestern Creativity & Entrepreneurship appeared first on Arts Midwest.

Their handiwork is essential to Magic: The Gathering, a tabletop (or digital) trading card game. On each card is an intricate artwork of a character or artifact, all individually painted and rigorously detailed.

Photo Credit: Winona Nelson

“There’s a ton of information that has to be included in each painting,” says author and illustrator Winona Nelson, who has been creating Magic cards since 2011.

That information tells players, upwards of two, how to play the game: What’s the mood or action? What are the new rules? Is there now a spell or new armor? Is this a hero, or the opposite?

“Every single magic card changes the rules of the game,” Nelson says. “It’s a lot more complicated than a 10 of hearts or something.”

Magic: The Gathering’s parent company, Wizards of the Coast, commissions hundreds of artists for each card. With each assignment comes specific criteria from the art director and what’s called a world guide. Artists typically have around six weeks to sketch, send back for approval, refine, paint, and send off.

“It’s not easy, and it’s quite a challenging task,” says illustrator Aaron Miller, who has painted 130 Magic cards. “It’s far removed from the serenity that can come from plein air painting.”

The Chicago native has been painting Magic cards since 2012. Though often stressful, he says the process does offer boundless creativity.

“I always come back to fantasy as a form of expression because that specific imagery keeps the fires of imagination lit,” Miller says.

For Nelson, it’s about community. Magic players sit around a (sometimes virtual) table together, often face-to-face at a local card shop. People connect through it—to each other and themselves.

Photo Credit: Gatherer

Photo Credit: Gatherer

Photo Credit: Gatherer

“It’s a really big, shared universe,” Nelson says. “It’s something that I feel has a big impact on people’s lives. Pop culture is where people spend their free time when they’re not working, and they want to feel reflected in the things that they consume and the entertainment that they engage with.”

Nelson, who belongs to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota, identifies as Two-Spirit and queer. She paints her reality—in a fantasy world—so others can see theirs.

“One of my big attractions to fantasy art in particular, and narrative art, is that I always wanted to see more depictions of characters who looked like me or who looked like they felt like I did,” Nelson says. “Something that showed heroes, that showed characters who had agency over their lives and who had the power to choose their own destinies.”

The post Making Magic: The Midwest Artists Behind Your Favorite Card Game appeared first on Arts Midwest.