Painting the 4th dimension
Mississippi River landscapes program draws from beginners to pros

By Jon Kerr

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or perhaps everywhere on the Mississippi, if you ask participants in a unique and little known arts program sponsored by the National Park Service.

The Mississippi River Landscape Painting program under the direction of part-time Ranger Richard Rock is in its third year of offering free opportunities--it is carefully defined not as a class--to painters of all media and levels of experience. From Hastings to Elk River, including three-hour sessions at places such as Dayton’s Bluff, Harriet Island, Mendota and Minnehaha Park, the small groups gather to share camaraderie and short historical backgroundings on the varied natural and manmade features at each site.

“I try to get people to realize this is not just a pretty place. Things happened here,” said Rock of his philosophy for the program. “But we want to get people down to the river recreating whatever way we can. This is one niche that I don’t think is filled anywhere else.”

Any body of water seems to naturally attract artists, admits Rock. But the river, and especially the diversity of the Twin Cities stretch of the Mississippi is a special draw.

“This stretch has such a mix of urban and natural landscapes that artists always find themes,” he said. “There’s just a diversity of things going on. ... And if the water goes over a falls the sound is an attraction.”

Gathered on Nicollet Island near St. Anthony Falls on a sunny late May day, about a dozen artists with styles seeming to range from paint by numbers to Picasso, enjoy a cornucopia of visual and environmental choices. Easels and sketch-pads quickly come out, with their owners jumping to work with watercolors, oils, or penciled sketches.

Some focus on fast-moving waters and mist rising over the limestone ledge in front of them. Others take aim at the Post Office or other modern buildings lining the opposite shore. Yet others are clearly attempting to respond to the challenge of Minnesota Historical Society interpreter Dave Wiggins to “think four dimensionally...think about all the history that’s flowed through here and see if you can put some of that on canvas.”

Art history is clearly also an inspiration to some.

“The Impressionists painted the river,” notes CeCeile Hartleib, who has been painting professionally for seven years and like many Minnesota artists has always found the Mississippi a source of inspiration. “It’s just center of life and community. I guess that’s what draws us.”

Nearby, Wayne Howell is working on a painting of the Hennepin Avenue Bridge. He has already done commissioned works on the old Hennepin Bridge, the Stone Arch and other Mississippi trestles.

“I just like bridges and rivers,” he said simply. “If you went out in the country now it’d just be all green. Here you get some real color.”

That same challenge is part of what draws Carolyn Wensman of White Bear Lake, who has joined the program regularly for two years.

“The river is a challenge. The scenes aren’t readily composed. There’s so much and it can be hard to get the composition--like trying to get in the spray today,” she said. “But it’s fun.”

Female artists have especially been joining the program in increasing numbers, notes Rock, crediting a sense of improved safety that has accompanied more developed trails and access to the river. He hopes the program will continue to grow for whatever reasons among all who enjoy the Mississippi.

Rock, himself a professional artist, never tires of painting varied river scenes.

“I like the vistas you get, as well as the neat historical stuff--the old buildings and equipment,” he said. “We don’t have ruined abbeys like the English painters used to do. But we do have old grain elevators with lots of interesting shapes and shades. ...I look at them and think of guys named Bob and Sven who are saying, ‘Geez, now I get to eat three meals a day. Isn’t America great?’”

To find out more about the Mississippi River Landscape Painting series call 651-290-4160, ext. 221.

Return to Riverview Times articles