Join the Carnegie Art Center and Cloudwalker Studio for the opening reception of three exciting new exhibitions: 

- Fireside Gallery: Fragments Arranged | Mia Eckes
Mia Eckes is a neon-loving midwestern fiber artist, mother to six, wildly creative children, and a certified Kaizen Muse Creativity Coach from Minnesota. She obtained her BFA in Fiber Art and Ceramics from Minnesota State University-Mankato and a Master of Arts in Human Development from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota-Minneapolis. Mia fused her studies of arts and cultural management with her interests in positive psychology, specifically researching creativity and the vital role that the arts play in early education and to living a fulfilling, meaningful life. Her vibrant art centers around contemplative prayer, metanoia, playfulness, relationships, and hope. She has exhibited her art in Minnesota and New York.
Mia created Cloudwalker Studio to offer creative life coaching services and currently resides in Coon Rapids, Minnesota with her husband and young family. Here she greets the day wholeheartedly with untamed hair, a cup of coffee, hopes aligned, and ear plugs handy.
She is continually creating and advocating for the creative life in others.
cloudwalkerstudio.com
- Rotunda Gallery: Out of the Blue Earth: The Presence of Memory | Kenwyn Murray
​Kenwyn Murray is a Caribbean artist and arts educator. Born in Trinidad in 1979 his career is currently distinguished between his work as a professional painter and his engagement with the Carnival arts. Kenwyn graduated with honours from the University the West Indies in 2006 and is currently a member of staff at the University of the West Indies' Department of Creative and Festival Arts.
The expression of a Caribbean aesthetic- which he believes is the convergence of fluidity, submerged history, hybridity and spirituality- has been a major focus within Kenwyn’s work and he continues to strive for his art to be representative of a space that he sees as myriad, rich, vibrant and beautiful.
kenwynmurray.com

- Hope Cook Gallery: Sustenance | Shelley Caldwell
Shelley Caldwell Statement:
Line and color. Plants and the ordinary. These impulses prompt my work. Living in a rural environment, you witness the wonders of the natural world and learn to be resourceful with what is readily available. This lesson profoundly impacts my work as an installation artist who combines mixed media drawing with subjects from nature and daily life.
Ideas stem from specific memories, experiences in nature, and ordinary objects. Linear, graphic patterns often replace realistic details to develop the character and clarity of each piece. From those found in nature to those in our homes, plants are typically the primary subject, and one with which many can relate due to our need for nature to sustain wellness. A variety of media are implemented to produce the sharp, clean lines fundamental to the work including Micron pen, India ink, and cut paper. Installations release the drawings from the wall and provide an immersive sensory experience for the audience to contemplate as they move through and interact with the work. Common, repurposed, economically accumulated materials are used as primary components to expand the work’s dialogue and create an approachable, relatable, and enriching experience.
I am driven to accentuate the ordinary, to highlight how the overlap in the supposed mundane of our individual lives unites us: however simple, there is great value in the surroundings and experiences that occupy our existence. Through a combined practice of mixed media drawing and installation, these themes converge.
shelleycaldwell.com