Prairie drawing exhibition opens in Lanesboro Aug. 17 | Arts & Entertainment

Lanesboro Arts presents “Traces of a Prairie,” an exhibition of large-scale graphite drawings by Lois Peterson. The exhibition runs from August 17 to October 20 with an opening reception on August 17 from 6-8 p.m. Attendees can enjoy conversations with the artist and live music by Kristin Eggen and friends. Peterson will also be providing free, live prairie plants at the opening reception for the first 100 attendees to take home.

The series of drawings in “Traces of a Prairie” are exquisitely detailed depictions of dormant, native prairie plants, as well as fallen segments of trees. Through this work, Peterson attempts to recognize the vital role they hold in maintaining a critical balance in our natural environment.

The imagery found in Lois Peterson’s art comes to her slowly over the course of several years or, perhaps more accurately, over the course of a lifetime. Peterson grew up in a fourth-generation farming family and recognizes her own family’s history regarding the devastation inflicted on prairies and woodlands through crop farming. Through the act of drawing and the act of restoring land, she is acquiring an understanding about her place and identity as a rural artist, as a person with an agricultural history, and as a person aware of an ecosystem in need of help.

Over the years, Peterson has alternated between abstract pieces and the mostly representational work found in “Traces of a Prairie.” By drawing, she searches for a current of meaning, frequently encountering the limits of her own understanding in the process. For the past 10 years, Peterson has been engaged with reintroducing a small prairie and planting native trees on her own land in Dakota, Minn. The value of natural prairies for ecosystems is always in her thoughts when she is drawing. To encourage others to foster native plant life, she will be distributing 100 prairie plants to the opening exhibition reception attendees.

Whether visitors attend the opening reception or stop by later to take in the exhibition, they’ll find in Lois Peterson’s work a beautiful call to action in defense of Midwestern prairie lands. Always free and open to the public, the Lanesboro Arts Exhibition Gallery is open on Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., plus on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. through August 31. 

Lois Peterson is a fiscal year 2024 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This exhibit is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, and is sponsored by Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center. Accessible and free to the public, the Exhibition Gallery is located at 103 Parkway Avenue North in Lanesboro. For more information, visit www.lanesboroarts.org.