Woodland Visions, Ojibwe Art by local artist Robert DesJarlait

Bio

Woodland Visions, Ojibwe Art by local artist Robert DesJarlait

The East Central Regional Arts Council (ECRAC) in Hinckley, MN, hosted a solo exhibition February 17 - March 17, 2023, featuring local artist Robert DesJarlait. DesJarlait was awarded an ECRAC Arts and Cultural Heritage Legacy Fund (ACHF) Individual Artist Grant to create a body of work which was featured at the ECRAC Gallery. There were 20 (is this the right number?) watercolor paintings by DesJarlait.

In addition to receiving an ACHF Individual Artist Grant DesJarlait has won awards in ECRAC’s annual IMAGE Art Show. In 2021, he won the artistic merit award. In 2022, he won an artistic excellence and purchase award for Ojibwe Mitigwaki Niimid (Ojibwe Woodland Dancers). The judges cited the work for the “techniques used and the expertise exhibited [and] noted how his artwork showed great movement and that it also conveys a true emotional impact.”

Artist Statement

In his 2022 exhibition catalog, renowned Ojibwe artist Carl Gawboy included DesJarlait among artists who inspire him. Gawboy said: “Robert DesJarlait for his authenticity. If he paints a woodland traditional dancer, you KNOW everything is right.”

Regarding his work, DesJarlait says: “My paintings are personal visions of a tribal reality. My stylized, figurative images compose a micro/macro-scopic Ojibwe universe. Interwoven in this universe are creation stories, history, customs and traditions, and my central theme – Ojibwe Manidoowiwin, the tribal spirit of the Ojibwe people.”

DesJarlait is from the Red Lake Ojibwe Nation. In addition to fine art, he is a muralist, writer, historian, and educator. He began his career as an artist in 1984. He has authored and illustrated several curriculum units for American Indian Education Programs and American Indian agencies and organizations in Minnesota. He is listed in Who’s Who inAmerican Art and Reference Encyclopedia of the American Indian. He currently lives in Region 7E in Onamia, MN.

For more about Mr. DesJarlait visit:
www.robertdesjarlaitfinearts.com

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the East Central Regional Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Artwork