Artist-in-Residence Program Roster
2026 Artists
Briand Morrison
March 2026
Acclaimed songwriter and jazz guitarist Briand Morrison is a member of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Morrison’s music blends technical mastery with emotional depth. He is also the son of the late George Morrison, the Anishinaabe modernist painter. Creativity and cultural expression run deep in his family, influencing his lifelong artistic path.
To Be Announced
Summer 2026
To Be Announced
Summer 2026
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2025 Artists
Arleta Little
March 2025
Arleta is a nonprofit leader and author who has held executive roles at the McKnight Foundation and the Givens Foundation for African American Literature, with more than two decades of experience in philanthropy. She co-authored Hope in the Struggle: A Memoir and authored Black Swallowtail, a collaboration with visual artist Ta-coumba T. Aiken.
Linda Powers
May 2025
Linda’s artistic journey has been anything but conventional—and all the more powerful because of it. With a foundation in Studio Art and Art History from the University of Minnesota, Morris, she returned to her creative roots after a successful marketing career, bringing renewed purpose and curiosity to her work.
Lauren Burton
July 2025
Lauren is a painter from Knife River who creates colorful acrylic and watercolor scenes inspired by Minnesota’s North Shore. Working outdoors or from her own photos, she uses bold brushstrokes and a playful, energetic style to explore light, shadow, and movement in landscapes, architecture, and everyday life.
James Ellis
September 2025
James is a realist oil painter whose work captures the wild, changing beauty of Northern Minnesota and explores the North Shore’s dramatic landscapes. He describes his paintings as “more than just representations of a place, they are an invitation to connect with its very soul.”
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2024 Artists
Kim Gordon
September 2024
Kim is a Minneapolis-based oil painter, batik artist, teacher, designer, and illustrator whose work explores light, form, and landscape through expressive, materially rich techniques. She exhibits widely and is represented in multiple Minnesota galleries, creating art that reflects her deep connection to the world around her.
Don Luce
October 2024
Don is the retired curator of exhibits at the Bell Museum, where, over a 40-year career, he developed most of the museum’s temporary exhibitions and launched the museum’s traveling exhibitions program statewide and nationally. An accomplished artist and scientific illustrator, he expanded the museum’s natural history art collection and played a key role in designing the permanent gallery Minnesota Journeys.
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2023 Artists
Jack Dant
May 2023
Jack is a St. Paul, Minnesota–based painter whose work ranges from landscapes and still lifes to figures and portraits, rooted in representational realism and influenced by American Impressionism. He paints both en plein air and in the studio, and also teaches artistic techniques while exploring sculpture and bronze casting alongside his visual art practice.
Heather Friedli
September 2023
Heather is a Saint Paul–based contemporary impressionist whose bold, color-rich oil paintings are inspired by her wilderness “Artventures,” from Minnesota’s Boundary Waters and North Shore to her Appalachian Trail thru-hike. Drawing on her Anishinaabe heritage and deep immersion in the landscape, her work evokes the spiritual and healing power of nature through expressive brushwork and luminous scenes of water, sky, and native flora and fauna.
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Location
57 miles up the Gunflint Trail
28 Moose Pond Drive
Grand Marais, MN 55604
Contact
Hours
Chik-Wauk Museum & Nature Center will reopen for the 2026 season, May 23!
Come enjoy the hiking trails!
Stay in Touch
Location
57 miles up the Gunflint Trail
28 Moose Pond Drive
Grand Marais, MN 55604
Contact
Hours
Open for the 2024 season, May 25 - October 20!
10am–5pm Daily