Six Featured Artists named for Loring Park Art Festival

Six Featured Artists named for Loring Park Art Festival, July 29 and 30, 2023. 140 juried artists to participate in nationally-acclaimed festival.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – June 8, 2023 – The Loring Park Art Festival, a family-friendly Minneapolis tradition for more than 20 years, has selected six featured artists for 2023, highlighting art in the categories of fiber, photography, glass, painting and printmaking.

“It’s an incredible line-up,” says Pat Parnow, festival founder. “Our featured artists were chosen from the 140 juried artists presenting at this year’s festival, based on their artistic process and outstanding work. We can’t wait for guests to interact with the artists and their art, all within the beauty of Loring Park.”

The nationally-acclaimed festival is Saturday, July 29 and Sunday, June 30, set in Loring Park, with its formal gardens, walking paths and idyllic ponds. Festival goers will view art and nature, and enjoy local food trucks and entertainment. Artists will be set up around the pond and will welcome discussions with visitors. A rich variety of styles and art forms will be featured, including jewelry, printmaking, glass, textiles, photography, clay, painting, drawing, sculpture, wood, ceramics, mixed media and more.

Artwork will be available at a wide range of prices, making it possible for art lovers to take home one-of-a-kind treasures.

2023 Loring Park Art Festival Featured Artists

Sandi Garris, Fiber (non-wearable), State College, PA

A lifelong artist, first as a quilt maker, then fabric dyer and now as a painter focusing on acrylic on silk, Garris shares her joy of nature through her work. “I work to capture emotional memory of an experience, simplifying lines and emphasizing shapes,” she says. “I find no need to adhere strictly to reality in my color palette, using bold colors and contrasts. I choose a silk canvas because it is translucent and absorbs pigment with a subtle iridescence.”

Andy Hall, Photography, Climax, MN

A full-time photographer for 25 years and a new grandparent, Hall grew up in SE Minnesota, lived in Minneapolis for 26 years, and now resides in Climax, MN, with a population of “about” 200. Hall’s art includes nature and still life photographs on paper and canvas. His latest body of botanical images are created in studio with techniques that allow for extreme detail and focus control, and involve shooting and stitching together up to 200 individual captures.

Brenna Klassen-Glanzer, Jewelry, Minneapolis, MN

A second-generation silversmith, born and raised in Minneapolis, Klassen-Glanzer’s silver and copper jewelry is inspired by nature, drawing elements from interesting natural forms such as seeds, pods, coral and shells. Her work incorporates a variety of textures, combined metals and the use of fold forming and hollow-form construction techniques. It is a mixture of organic natural forms and modern design, bringing an untamed yet elegant quality. An avid adventurer and outdoor enthusiast, she creates voluminous, lightweight, contemporary jewelry.

Jon Offutt, Glass, Fargo, ND

Offutt has been practicing the craft of glass blowing for more than 40 years. His backyard studio is a favorite destination for arts enthusiasts and schoolchildren who watch the creation of art from molten glass and learn about the physics of glass, the only art medium that “fights back.” All work is created from clear furnace glass with applied glass frits and powders. No paints or cold processes are used. “My work is informed by plumb bobs, fishing bobbers, anchors, bubbles in beer, kites and icicles,” he says.

Marisa Ray, Painting, Knoxville, TN

“I enjoy creating whimsical work with birds and animals that makes people laugh and smile,” says Ray who lives in Knoxville with her husband, son and seven pets.. Most of her paintings are done as a series, usually with accompanying stories that bring life and laughter to the artwork. Ray works in acrylics, using multiple, thick layers of paint to create a three-dimensional look for bird feathers and animal fur and hand-painted patterns for background and clothing detail.

Brian Wagner, Printmaking, Minneapolis, MN

Wagner works primarily in lithography, a printmaking process utilizing ancient Bavarian limestone as a planographic method of printing, based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The image is hand drawn, affixed by a chemical reaction, and printed from stone. Their current work focuses on queer existence, queer domesticity and what it’s like living in and occupying those spaces. Their work serves as a selection of thoughts, imagery and personal experience, often incorporating text and snippets of writing as connection to lived, day-to-day life as a queer person.

2023 Loring Park Art Festival Featured Artists

Dates: Saturday, July 29, 10 am to 6 pm / Sunday, June 30, 10 am to 5 pm

Location: Loring Park, 1382 Willow St., Minneapolis, 55403, at Oak Grove and Hennepin.

Parking and Directions: www.loringparkartfestival.com/getting-there

Fee: Festival is free of charge to all.

Food and Beverage: Relax with refreshing beers in the Fulton Beer Garden and enjoy a variety of about 20 vendors with delicious offerings, including ethnic foods. www.loringparkartfestival.com/food-vendors

Activities and Entertainment: Enjoy music, dance, spoken word performances, family fun, Wine and Canvas, and, new this year,the WOW Mobile Metal Lab and Show. www.loringparkartfestival.com/activities
www.loringparkartfestival.com/entertainment

Photos: www.loringparkartfestival.com/photos

About the Loring Park Art Festival

The Loring Park Art Festival was founded in 1999 by Pat Parnow, Mary Ann Wunderlin and Carol Haubner. Cindy Jacobson joined Pat as artist partners in 2014 when Mary Ann and Carol retired. Since 2000, the festival has combined creative expression and community connectedness to surprise and delight all who attend. With beautiful ponds and formal gardens, Loring Park makes an idyllic spot to celebrate art, music, food and entertainment for two days each summer in downtown Minneapolis. This is the festival’s 23rd year.

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Media contact: Lory Sutton, [email protected], 612-875-0774