Vesterheim Museum presents an online conversation with “Water” artists on April 24

DECORAH — Meet some of the artists behind “Water,” an exhibit of contemporary art that is now on view at Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School. Everyone is invited to this free online conversation on April 24 at 4 p.m. Preregistration is required. Visit vesterheim.org to sign up and receive a Zoom link.

The nine artists participating in the conversation are Ulla de Larios (weaver), Kristin Lindseth (sculptor), Joan Stuart Ross (painter), Marc Ellen Hamel (painter), Emma Lundgren (3D and digital media artist), Tracy Benson (video artist), Diane Rusnak (painter), Pamela Fingado (painter and printmaker), and Maj-Britt Hilstrom (printmaker). These artists are members of Nordic 5 Arts, an international organization of professional artists.

“Water” explores the world’s most essential natural resource as a source of survival, life, and livelihoods. Nineteen contemporary artists with Nordic 5 Arts have created works that respond to the theme of water. Some artists reflect on immigrant journeys by ship or plane across the Atlantic Ocean. Others reflect on the state of water in the face of climate change and the relationship between the Nordic countries and water. The exhibit is sponsored by Decorah Bank & Trust, Marilyn and Julien Hansen, and Jeff and Marilyn Roverud.

Ulla de Larios was born and raised in Sweden and immigrated to the United States. She received a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute in Painting in 1990 and an MFA in Textiles from San Francisco State University in 2005. She now resides in Berkeley, Calif.

Kristin Lindseth is an internationally exhibiting sculptor, printmaker and educator, who lives and works in the San Francisco South Bay area. Her work has been represented in more than 100 exhibitions regionally, nationally and internationally.

Joan Stuart Ross studied at Boston Latin School, and at Connecticut College she majored in Art and Theology. Her studios are now at BallardWorks in Seattle, and in the village of Nahcotta, on the Washington coast.

Originally from Seattle, Marc Ellen Hamel moved to the Bay Area in 1972. She has taken art classes at university and in workshops through the last 40 years.

Emma Lundgren presents Scandinavian-inspired color and material combinations that explore a broad cultural context. She is a graduate of Central St. Martins and Royal College of Art. Her work has been exhibited in Stockholm, New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and San Francisco.

Tracey M. Benson is an artist and researcher based in Canberra, Australia. She currently is an adjunct researcher at the Institute of Applied Ecology and Centre for Creative and Cultural Research at University of Canberra and visiting researcher at the More than Human Lab at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand.

Diane Rusnak is a California Bay Area artist showing locally, nationally, and internationally since 1970. She retired from art teaching in community colleges and now has a new Studio Sisu in her home.

Pamela Fingado is a native Californian born in San Francisco, living in the San Francisco East Bay. She studied art at the California College of Arts in Oakland and at California State University East Bay and is the owner of Fingado Art Services, Coaching and Consulting For a Creative Life.

Born in Chicago to Swedish immigrant parents, Maj-Britt Hilstrom graduated from Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill. She is the founder/director of the Blue Bay Press, a member of the Pacific Rim Sculptors Group, and the California Society of Printmakers.

Nordic 5 Arts was founded by Kati Casida in 1993 and is an international organization of professional artists based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nordic 5 Arts presents a unique Nordic/Scandinavian expression in the visual arts and contributes to the diversity of the arts in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. The organization also promotes ties with contemporary Nordic arts, culture, and design.

Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School, welcomes people of all ages and backgrounds to engage in the conversation of the American immigrant journey through the lens of the Norwegian-American experience. Vesterheim offers innovative and interactive exhibits, classes, and programs, both at the dynamic campus and park in scenic Decorah, Iowa, and online at vesterheim.org and Vesterheim social media. For more information on exhibits, classes, programs, tours, membership opportunities, and ways to donate and volunteer, connect at vesterheim.org, (563) 382-9681, and Vesterheim, 502 W. Water St., P.O. Box 379, Decorah, IA, 52101-0379.