Region 2 Arts Council announces Artist Fellowship recipients

BEMIDJI — The Region 2 Arts Council Board recently awarded $6,000 fellowships to sculptor Tim Nelsen and painter Donna Alena Hrabcakova.

The Artist Fellowship award is intended for dedicated artists who have created a substantial independent body of work, have received recognition for their work and whose work has been selected for publication, solo exhibitions, commissions, presentations, readings or performances, a release said.

Tim Nelsen has been a sculptor and metal artist since 2018 and uses exclusively recycled materials in his work. He is a graduate of Bemidji State University with a degree in Design Technology.

Nelsen has won several People’s Choice Awards for his works, including “Rumblefish” in 2016, “King Norway” in 2022 and 2023, and the Judge’s Award for the sculpture “Flying V” in 2023.

Nelsen’s works have been displayed in sculpture walks around the region, including the Bemidji Sculpture Walk, Sioux Falls Sculpture Walk, and in Mankato, Hutchinson and more throughout the Midwest. Nelsen has also served as an executive board member on the Bemidji Sculpture Walk since 2020.

“I create art for one reason; it makes me happy,” Nelsen said in the release. “The materials I use and the subjects I choose all speak to me on some level. From finding sculpting materials to sketching and creating the final product, the entire process is something I enjoy. I’m continually trying to improve as an artist by building my skill set and embracing new technologies that can help me work more efficiently.”

Painter Donna Alena Hrabcakova is originally from Giglovce, Slovakia, and has worked for 20 years as a Clinical Art Therapist at the Red Lake middle and high schools.

She has shown work in several art shows, including the Bi-annual Exhibition at the Watermark Art Center, a Showing in Chicago on the Red Line Collection and other exhibits including the Jung Haus Gallery, Short North Art District and in Giglovce, Slovakia. One of her installations on Black Lives Matter is displayed in the Columbus, Ohio State House.

Contributed

Hrabcakova came to Red Lake from Ohio to serve as a National Trauma Therapist following a Red Lake school shooting tragedy in 2005. Her passion is working with adolescents to help them cope with intergenerational trauma, PTSD and other issues that arise from suffering and loss.

Her passion and love play into her artwork’s narrative of family, love, tragedy, war and healing. Hrabcakova uses acrylics, mixed media, materials that are recycled from nature and molding pastes.

Hrabcakova’s goal for her fellowship is to start a whole new collection with the juxtaposition of freedom, sovereignty, diaspora and the concept of community. She will use references from Red Lake Nation, the Ukrainian invasion of Russia and her family’s stories of being sent to internment camps in Presov, Slovakia, and later Auschwitz.

“All art shows start with a dream, a vision and a good story,” Hrabcakova said in the release. “This (fellowship project) is based on a very personal story that reaches deep inside of my soul.”