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‘A vital role for creators seeking genuine connection’

18th Annual ArtScape juried art show

By Amy Zents 5 min read

NEW ULM -- Regional artists and community members gathered at the 4 Pillars Gallery at The Grand Center for Arts and Culture Friday evening for the opening reception of the 18th Annual ArtScape Juried Art Show.

The juried exhibition gathered 101 pieces entered this year, with 81 pieces accepted into the final show and 45 individual artists from around Southern Minnesota represented. 

To evaluate this year's submissions, the gallery invited two jurors instead of one: Norah Kratz, the top winner of last year's ArtScape competition, and Edson Rosas, professor of printmaking at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

The exhibition celebrates regional creativity across a broad spectrum of mediums and offers an important public venue for both emerging and established creators.

“For an artist to be selected in a juried show, it helps build their resume,” Grand Executive Director John Kellen said. “To have a piece selected gives artists confidence, whether they are professional or just starting out. It is fun to celebrate all the creativity we have in the region.”

Marketing and Programming Coordinator Olivia Haggerty said the major award winners announced Friday night were selected directly by the jurists. However, gallery visitors will also have a voice throughout the exhibition run. 

The People’s Choice award is chosen by public vote, with ballots accepted in person at the gallery. Voting remains open through the final day of the exhibition, Oct. 16, and the winner will be announced that afternoon to receive a $250 Blick Art Materials gift card.

First place, featuring a $400 prize sponsored by True Real Estate, went to Oakdale artist Yulia Sholomova for her multi-layered painting “A Mythology of The Northwoods.”

Sholomova, who was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia, before relocating to Minnesota, said her submission bridges her childhood memories with her current natural surroundings in the Midwest.

“When I moved to Minnesota, it was a very different life,” Sholomova said. “Step by step, I built my world here. Outside my window, I have a landscape with a small forest and a lake. In my childhood, my grandmother told me fairy tales from Northern and Slavic mythology. I connected those memories with my real life here to create a new world with creatures in the landscape.”

Sholomova added that her new life in Minnesota inspired her to lean fully into visual storytelling, drawing on elements like forest mushrooms, mermaids, caterpillars, and natural light to convey themes of resilience and inner childhood wonder.

Second place, taking home a $200 prize sponsored by Grand Board and Staff, went to Sheryl Paulson of Mankato for her detailed ceramic piece “Spigoted Teapot in Full Bloom.” 

Paulson, who holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Indiana University, said her approach to working with clay is grounded in process, precise movement, and organic texture.

“I have been working with the vessel as a taking-off point,” Paulson said. “It starts on the wheel, and in the wet stage, you carve away or add to it. It undergoes multiple firings for the gold luster, metal, glass, and beads. My ideas come from nature and growing up in the country.”

Third place, including a $100 prize sponsored by The Bookkeeping Center, went to Susan Bect of New Ulm for her entry titled “Rooted.”

Honorable mentions, carrying $25 cash awards each, were awarded to Eliza Ploghoft of Lake Crystal for “Gradient Glyphs,” Rochelle Koberoski of Mankato for “Egg Coffee,” Scott Markel of North Mankato for “Home Stretch,” and Ken Heubert of New Ulm for “Whimsical House.”

Springfield artist Caitlin Lang, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in studio art with an emphasis in portraiture from Southwest Minnesota State University, exhibited a detailed colored pencil work that belongs to a larger ongoing project. 

Lang said all of her current pieces feature a solid black background paired with a consistent palette.

“It’s pretty much just like a lot of still life kind of things,” Lang said. “Colored pencil. Just having a lot of fun with abstract color right now.”

Local artists brought several distinct and unconventional techniques to the gallery space. 

Nicholas Schleif of Milroy, who has displayed his work at ArtScape for roughly 15 years, brought intricate pointillism pieces created using an X-Acto knife handle fitted with a standard wooden toothpick. Among his entries was an acrylic portrait titled “Mr. Pocket Billiards.”

“I mix up the paint and do them one dot at a time,” Schleif said, noting that he also creates experimental art pieces by sprinkling live gunpowder onto blank canvas and setting it alight to burn intricate imagery into the fabric.

New Ulm native Lauren McMackin displayed fine art photography, including a whimsical portrait titled “Casper the Friendly Unicorn.”

 McMackin, who studied graphic design and media arts at Bethany Lutheran College and currently works in graphic design at Sid Signs on Broadway, said her artistic trajectory developed over time.

“It started out as a hobby and moved into a profession,” McMackin said.

Fiber artist Michelle Kaisersatt of St. Peter exhibited pottery along with textile work, sharing that her passion for materials extends to reclaiming unused wool remnants from local mills to craft sustainable burial blankets.

Mankato artists Cam Kaleda and Kira Franzmann submitted watercolor and gouache works. 

Kaleda exhibited “The Minnow” and said they have been painting a lot of fish recently, including pieces painted on upcycled canvases made of VHS tapes.  

“I glue them all together into a big canvas,” Kaleda said.

Franzmann said that community exhibits like ArtScape fulfill a vital role for creators seeking genuine connection.

“Sometimes it feels like just posting your picture on Instagram or Facebook is impersonal,” Franzmann said.

Many of the original works on display are available for purchase from the artists. Exhibition sponsors include True Real Estate, The Bookkeeping Center, and Blick Art Materials

The 18th Annual ArtScape Juried Art Show will remain on display through Friday, Oct. 16, during regular gallery hours of Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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