You are invited to view this gallery show, presented January 12 - February 24, 2018. Meet the artists at the free Opening Reception - January 12, 5-7pm

Julie Fakler 

Julie Fakler creates vibrant original domestic animal paintings and pet portraits. She received individual artist grants from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC) for projects that promoted adoption of animals from the Prairie's Edge Humane Society (2011) and S.A.F.E. Sanctuary (2014). Currently Julie is producing Southeastern Minnesota farm animal portraits (2017) for her third SEMAC grant. Fakler is the director of operations at the Paradise Center for the Arts, and sits on the SEMAC Board of Directors. She holds a BFA in painting and drawing from Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Ian Hanson

I found photography in my Yearbook class in Grand Meadow, MN.  However it wasn’t until a semester studying photography instead of theatre in Brisbane, Australia that I realized this was the path I should be on.  I began photographing weddings in 2008 and have been working as a photographer ever since.  Based in either Minneapolis or Grand Meadow, MN; I try to keep my feet moving and my car wheels turning to fulfill the constant search for adventure.

With photography my hope is to take viewers on a journey, to bring them closer to places they have never been and to make it real.  Physical distance allows us to forget just how close we are to everyone and everything else on the planet.  A recent trip to Africa in 2017 moved me in ways other places had not.  I am going to work with schools to bring the stories of Africa home, and from home back to Africa.  To show that while we may live very differently, we are more alike than we realize.

Often I find myself as a curious observer rather than creator of images.  I put myself in a position to witness life around me with intent to pass on the moment.  What draws my attention the most are textures, discarded items, and people in their elements that are all pieces of a larger narrative.