Wrenshall barn takes on art show

A visual arts exhibition featuring the work of Catherine Meier and Kristina Estall, "Field Trials II" will open Saturday, Sept. 21 in the Free Range Film Festival barn near Wrenshall.

The exhibit allows for artistic experimentation and exploration inside a century-old barn. Both artists work in partnership with the natural landscape and reflect on our comprehension of time and space.

Catherine Meier explores the meaning of "open space" through animation, site-specific installations, and large-scale prints and drawings. Representing a state of mind as well as a state of being, these expansive works are redolent of the artist's own travels crossing the Great Plains of North America and the Mongolian steppe where her experience of freedom and boundlessness also fueled feelings of fear and paranoia.

Meier has shown her work in gallery and museum settings in the Midwest, South and Japan, at film festivals, and in the very landscapes that gave rise to her drawings. She has a bachelor of fine arts degree in studio art from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and a master of fine arts degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Most recently, she was an artist in residence at Badlands National Park in South Dakota, and her awards include a national Jacob K. Javits fellowship for graduate study, three from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, and a McKnight visual artist fellowship.

Kristina Estell uses daily encounters with natural and constructed environments to generate ideas of implicit action and reaction. Using a variety of processes and materials, Estell creates sculpture, installation, interactive and watercolor works that generate sensitive and dynamic material experiences. She exhibits and participates in creative projects nationally and internationally.

The two artists will use the Free Range Film Barn as a lab space for the generation and exhibition of new work. In agricultural terms, field trials offer farmers the opportunity to see how new practices might be adapted and to closely observe how these management decisions might function on a larger scale. Farmers as well as artists try to minimize failure, yet innovation and creativity often comes from taking risks and exploring new ideas. "Field Trials II" offers a space for artists and audiences to invite chance and wild growth into the artistic process.

The exhibition is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through Minnesota State Arts Board grants and the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

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Field Trials II

What: An art exhibition born in a barn

Where: Free Range Film Festival Barn, 909 County Road 4, Wrenshall

When: Exhibition opening is 4-8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21

The exhibit will also be open for viewing 1-5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22 and 1-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28