This installation was created for a public atrium in downtown Fargo, ND. The piece itself is 12 feet wide by 10 feet deep and about 6 feet high. I used 17,280 acrylic beads, 1,080 glass or crystal beads, 8,640 discs made of 110-lb card stock and about 2,000 yards of various weight monofilament line. Give or take a few.
The first image is shot by Dan Francis Photography

I was tasked with using art to help make an alleyway into a party venue. On the spot, I blurted out “I’ll paint the whole alley!” and the organizers liked the idea.

Using eco-friendly tempera paint, I used mops to create a wave and splatter pattern across the parking lot and alleyway.

Here’s a video! Also: wow, I had just had a baby 6 weeks before and had brain fog the entire interview for the video.

The first image is taken by Dan Francis Photography.

This was a project leading high school students through their first public art experience. While the installation was meant to impact our community, the lesson for each artist was about being respectful as you create for and with the community.

Students interviewed their subject, knowing ahead of time that this person had something about them which society is uncomfortable with but which cannot necessarily be seen. Drug addiction, childhood sexual abuse, gender non-conformity, the loss of a loved one, mental health issues.

After interviewing the subject, each student then cast their subject’s feet and wrote a synopsis defining who their subject is as a person. Before placing the synopsis into concrete I asked them to read it to me. Then, I asked them to consider how the subject (and people like their subject) will feel reading the words. Will they feel used? Have you shared their vulnerability in a way that you feel good about? Would you want to stand next to them and share this project?

Many students updated their subject synopsis to be more careful and compassionate. My hope was to teach these students to be mindful when doing community art. Never exploit a community you’re wanting to serve for the purpose of art.

This mural was created out of the Moorhead, MN zip code.

Today, the town has pride and grit alongside a sense of community and togetherness. Yet, Moorhead has western style saloons and even brothels in its not so distant history. I wanted to create a colorful piece with a nod to that the western carnival-style history which would also speak to the pride people in Moorhead feel toward their scrappy little town.

This one was an interactive community art project. I installed a few dozen ornately framed chalk boards on construction site. I left buckets of chalk but no instructions.

See more images of Chalk at this link.

This sculpture is created from electrical conduit which I curled to imitate prairie grass and installed into a public planter.

A second conduit sculpture was commissioned for a private home. This time much smaller and in yellow.

SticksGarden is a sculpture garden in downtown Moorhead, MN made entirely of cedar sticks.

For this project I created two sculptures and selected local artists to create an additional seven regionally-themed sculptures using cedar pole. These were installed into a formerly unused and unsightly series of three public planters.

Apple trees were planted and a bench was created with a poem written by an 11 year old poet set into the seat, making this a place for our community to enjoy. See more at www.sticksgarden.com

This yarn piece was placed on a boarded up building in downtown Fargo, ND.

This project lead high school students to create an interactive piece of art taking up a city block.

This board game included interesting facts but also social information on topics ranging from suicide, homeless veterans, gender, sexuality, and many more.

48 inch high three dimensional glitter hearts. They made the front page of the state’s largest newspaper- so I’ll call that a win.

The first image is taken from Fargo Monthly.

A commission to dress up the windows of a construction site. It was actually pretty hard to photograph.

Let’s just admit that our culture includes taking a lot of selfies in bathrooms. This community center needed a bathroom wall worthy of selfies.

Streets Alive is an annual event which closes down miles of public road and allows people to run, walk, bike, and play in the streets. This interactive effort was to encourage people to write their ideas, dreams, and thoughts on the street itself.

I created stencils and places chalk, tempera paint, and spray chalk for the community to use.