Upstream is thrilled to announce the selection of our 2023 Upstream Artist Fellows.  Upstream Artist Fellows are 13 artists from a variety of mediums who share a love for Minnesota’s natural places and care for them personally and through their work.

The artists will embark on a nearly year-long relationship with each other and Upstream, finding inspiration in natural places that are important to them, then developing and creating art that is related to or represents their commitment to care for those places.  Each Fellow will chronicle their work and share them with the Upstream community through video, blog posts or other creative media.  Upstream will host a gallery and showing at the conclusion of the Fellowship.

The Upstream Artist Fellows come from across the state and across the artistic spectrum.  Our 2023 Upstream Artist Fellows are:

• Annie Hough, a playwright from North Moorhead
• David Fallon, a mixed media artist from St. Paul
• Sam Zimmerman / Zhaawanoogiizhik, a painter from Grand Portage and Duluth
• Steven Lemke, a sculptor and digital fabricator from St. Joseph
• Margo Gray, an interactive experience designer from Bearville Township
• Alicia De La Cruz, a beadwork artist from Minneapolis and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe
• Nicole Sara Simpkins and Phillip Devany, a mixed media science/artist collaborative team from Minneapolis
• Susanna Gaunt, a visual artist from Duluth
• Erika Gilsdorf, a video producer, storyteller and adventurer from Detroit Lakes
• Dani Prados, a multi-media visual artist from Granite Falls
• Kayla Schiltgen, a screendance artist from Two Harbors
• Pricilla Mayowa, a poet and writer from St. Paul
• Sarah Johnson, a multimedia artist from Winona/Keoxa

We invite you to follow the Upstream Artist Fellows journey by subscribing to Upstream’s monthly e-newsletter and following our work on social media.

A special thanks to Springboard for the Arts for partnership in the Fellowship program.  For more information, please contact Andy Goldman-Gray at Andy@MNUpstream.org or Ricardo Beaird at ricardo@springboardforthearts.org