Happy Summer everyone!!! It’s July 4th and I feel like my summer is just beginning. It has been a busy Spring, but a lot of projects are ending, giving me more time to relax, soak up some sun, and maybe get exercising again. Despite all the haunting news of the turn our country is taking, I try to continue moving forward with creating a world of beauty, questioning things, and supporting those around me. I encourage everyone to do something every day that either draws you closer to someone, supports your local community, or raises your voice nationally. Every small and large effort will be needed to heal this country.
On a more joyous note, I have several events coming up where we can gather and support each other and those who are making a positive difference in this world. Please find the time to join me.
Here’s what has been happening with my art…
Featured Painting
Unshakable
Oil on Canvas
72”x 30”
SOLD
Some paintings sell quickly and I do not get a chance to get to know them, to hang with them, to have them influence the next batch. This is one of those paintings. This is a large canvas of a rock shore on Rainy Lake, MN. It took quite a while to paint, but then once it was completed it sold. I’m not complaining. I came across this image the other day and only then remembered the painting, even though I had only painted it four years ago. The life of being an artist is a variable thing, unlike the unshakeable rocky shores of Northern Minnesota.
You can always contact me directly if you are interested in any artwork you see in this newsletter or on my website.
Exhibits
2°C
A Climate Change exhibit by Drevis Hager and Mark Granlund and Fundraiser for Freshwater Society
WHEN: July 31 - August 10, 2025
WHERE: Hamilton Studio
3112 West 28th St
Minneapolis, MN 55416-4384
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 31, 6 pm - 9 pm
Performance: August 7, 7 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm) - Prudence Johnson, Dean
Magraw and Kyle Tran Myhre
Gallery Hours: Saturdays, August 2nd and 9th, 12 noon - 4 pm.
I am so excited to announce this show!!!!
2°C (two degrees Celsius) is an exhibit that uses powerful metaphor, provocative imagery, and dark humor through the language of paint to confront humanity's complex relationship with our fragile planet. The exhibit consists of oil paintings, on canvas and panel, by artists Mark Granlund and Drevis Hager. Exploring the landscapes of the Midwest (and the mind) these two painters provide a unique vision of the future. 2°C invites viewers to contemplate our pivotal ecological moment through works that are at once beautiful, unsettling, and a little bit quirky.
Freshwater Society is a leading Minnesota-based nonprofit dedicated to preserving
clean, sustainable water.
Opening Reception and Saturdays are free to attend.
August 7th performance is a ticketed event.
For more info and tickets: www.freshwater.org Wait until July 10, when website will be live.
And more info to come, here on my Substack and at my Socials.
2025 Red Wing Arts Plein Air
The Depot Gallery, 418 Levee Street, Red Wing, MN 55066
June 21 - August 24, 2025
I am very happy to announce that I have a piece, Hay Creek, in the annual Red Wing Arts Plein Air Exhibit. The exhibit is the culmination of 10 days of plein air (painting outdoors on site) activities in and around Red Wing, MN. I am also happy to announce that I won an Award of Merit - Open Class, for my painting. I was a little shocked to win the award, as I had very little time to spend painting during the festival due to a family surgery, the installation of my commission, and…oh yeah, I have a full time job. But I am very appreciative of the recognition given by judge Nina Weiss.
If you are in the area, stop in and see the show and then come see me.
Red Wing Area Studio Tour
618 East Avenue, Red Wing, MN 55066
Sat, July 26 10-5
Sun, July 27 10-4
I will have my Red Wing studio open as part of the Red Wing Area Studio Tour. Come on down and visit my studio, as well as several other studios in the area. You can read more about the tour here.
Summer Show: Gallery 13 at Aloft Hotel
Aloft Hotel, 900 Washington Avenue, Minneapolis, MN.
May - September 2025
I have two artworks in Gallery 13’s summer show at Aloft Hotel.
Brick and Mortar Galleries
Everett and Charlie Gallery in Minneapolis, MN. — You can always see a sampling of my art at E&C, located in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis
Online Galleries
Studio Visits
If you are wanting to see my artwork in person, we can set up a Studio Visit either in St Paul or Red Wing, MN. Contact me directly, if interested.
And, of course, you can always see new and old art at my website:
markgranlund.com or markgranlundstudio.com.
What’s Cooking In the Studio
City of Woodbury Lookout Ridge Commission Completed
I have been working on the Lookout Ridge Mural Project for more than a year and a half and it is finally installed! In the pics, you see the final printed images across the walls of the space. Obviously, the renovations of the building are not yet complete and will include a climbing structure rising up from the floor.
Many thanks to the great staff at the City of Woodbury, especially Josh Kinney, Parks Planner, and Teresa Keller, Senior Engineering Project Coordinator. And many thanks to the vendors who did an excellent job of printing and installing: Vlad Revniaga, Project Manager at Twin City Acoustics, Inc.; Mitch Stier of Mitchell Stier Productions; and Paul Lilienthal, President, Pictura Graphics.
In some ways it was exactly what I envisioned, while being SO much more… and BIGGER!
Watch this newsletter for a more detailed description of the steps of the process, along with final photos with the climbing structure, and a Grand Opening date. Whew!!
New Series Unveiling: Oil Portraits
At the 2°C Exhibit and Fundraiser I will be unveiling a new series of nine paintings titled: Oil Portraits. The painting here is Mike Hennigan at Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge.
The Oil Portraits series features oil company CEOs posed before threatened or fragile Mississippi River habitats near my home. These works are deliberately constructed as metaphors for our planet’s destruction, using sustainably sourced materials—organic cotton or linen, sustainably-harvested wood and pigments, and traditional oil ground—as their foundation, representing the natural paradise we still possess. In a powerful material statement, I use petroleum-based tar to render the figures' clothing and shadows, knowing the tar will gradually destroy the canvas and corrupt the paint. This self-destructive element mirrors how these executives' decisions threaten both the depicted landscapes and their real-world counterparts, posing the haunting question: which will last longer, the painted landscapes or the real life landscapes?
Finishing Touches
It has been one year since I purchased my house in Red Wing, MN. I am so happy I made the move. There are many things to like about Red Wing. It is a typical small town that has its issues, especially around sustaining businesses, but it is a beautiful natural area along the Mississippi River with its bluffs, winding rivers, backwaters, islands, and bike paths. As an artist, I couldn’t ask for a more naturally inspiring place to live.
Another bonus is the fabulous arts community that is anchored by the Red Wing Arts organization. They produce an amazing amount of programming for artists and the community. From Member Shows, to artist talks, to free concerts in the park, public sculptures, to a 10 day Plein Air Festival, to collaborations between visual artists and writers, to rotating gallery shows, to… you get the idea. Not just do they do voluminous amounts of programming, it is all very well run. They treat artists extremely well, never taking them for granted, and try to create programming for all citizens. The Anderson Center at Tower View is also in town and provides some wonderful gallery shows and programming, as well.
I am now a member of the Red Wing Arts and Culture Commission. Although I haven’t been to enough meetings yet to feel like I know the lay of the land, I am enjoying experiencing this perspective of the local arts scene.
Beyond being a wonderful location, what has the move meant? I am someone who is very focused on the task in front of me (but, boy, do I love to distract myself). I am finding moving down here has helped me to focus more easily on things I want to do. Maybe I had too much history in the Twin Cities and I was needing to start over somewhere fresh. I’m not sure. I am still in the Cities two days a week, at least, for my job at Metro Transit, but it is a completely different feel. I do feel like the task I was hired to do at Metro Transit has been completed. I thinkn I
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