Stephanie Henriksen at Northfield Arts Guild
October 5th, 2014
Stephanie Henricksen has been a friend, activist, cohort, and client on so many land use issues for so long now, and though I’d seen her “Farm Art” show that she put together with many other farm and agriculture focused artists, I’d not seen a room full of her work… until today. And apparently is was a side of her that many in Northfield did not know existed! So good to fill them in. It was the last day of her “Retrospective” at the Northfield Arts Guild. That’s Stephanie in her “winter” hat discussing her work:
One day we were in my office talking about the Target development just south of Northfield, and, well, it was a spirited discussion, and I leaned back snorting and CRACK! My chair broke, I went flying over backwards, hootin’ and hollerin’ all the way to the floor. A few days later she comes in with a drawing of it, which I have to this day. I also have an evocative photo of Stephanie, taken by David, on my wall, of her sitting with three of her many ducks who were assassinated in a drive by shooting just after she’d published an editorial about a local land use project — a price of her advocacy. She’s had other incidents, including a sow’s teats skinned off and left in her mailbox, a rib cage stuck on her fence post, during her work on feedlot regulation. She’s well known for her activism, but unfortunately, not so much for her art.
Oh, and did you know she’s an alto sax player too?
And some others from the exhibition:
This is her mother out in the yard:
This was one of my favorites — a squirrel ring toss!!!
This one was to be a “Madonna and Child” which she said just wasn’t working until she put her dog in:
And here she is again, Stephanie Henricksen and friends:
And from my personal collection from a much appreciated thank you note she’d sent in the heat of a tough struggle, after we’d made some progress on a land use issue. I think we’d gotten a permit stalled out in Rice County with a petition to the EQB for environmental review:
January 9th, 2015 at 12:25 pm
Thank you for sharing Ms. Henriksen’s remarkable, breathtaking art.
January 15th, 2016 at 4:23 pm
Thanks so much Carol, for this wonderful display of Stephanie’s art. I feel so grateful that the Arts Gu ild had that exhibit when it did. Although I’ve known Stephanie for a long time, I hadn’t appreciated the breadth of her artistry.
We will miss her for many reasons, her talent, her intellect and her devotion to making the world a better place.
January 19th, 2016 at 8:45 am
Stephanie and I lived next door to one another our freshman year at St. Olaf College. We reconnected in 1968 upon my return to Northfield, and through the years I have admired her integrity, passion and talent in so many ways. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her.