Artist Highlight/Interview

Ken Baltes was a familiar face around White Bear Center for the Arts for many years. He began taking art classes with teaching artist Lisa Fertig in 2013, but his interest in art started long before then. Ken Baltes always had a creative streak, which might seem in contrast to his 50-year career in computer…

Awa Mally Artist Highlight Photographer and artist Awa Mally grew up in north Minneapolis, in a neighborhood composed mainly of immigrant families. As an immigrant herself, having moved from Togo at the age of seven, she felt a strong sense of community with her neighbors. “I feel like my identity as an immigrant influences my…

Scott Lloyd Anderson learned at an early age to value realism in his art. Growing up near Chicago Illinois, Scott was praised for drawing accurately, and he grew up enamored with early 20th century illustrators. When it came time to decide what to study at school, he chose graphic design, and spent 20 years as…

Can you describe your journey as an artist? How did you end up at Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD)?I have always been an artist but when I graduated high school, I didn’t recognize art as a viable career. I spent a year in pre-veterinary medicine before I decided that I wanted an education…

How did you first become interested in fiber art? I’ve always been a very creative spirit—drawing incessantly as a child, making up stories, turning ideas into form.  I was fortunate to grow up in a home where textile traditions were still passed from mother to daughter, from sewing to embroidery and beyond.  My mom first…

What path did you take to become a professional artist? It was a circuitous beginning, but a straight line to where I am now at the same time.  Briefly, I grew up with an outdoor dad who was also a pretty decent artist, mostly a cartoonist and watercolorist, who majored in wildlife biology.  We lived…

Watercolor artist Andy Evansen judged the 2021 Into Nature: International Online Plein Air Exhibition. He curated this juried art show along with artists Marc Hanson and Judy Palermo. What path did you take to become an artist? I’ve drawn pretty much my whole life, and went to the University of Minnesota for commercial illustration courses.…