Schaefer Art GalleryCurrent and Previous Exhibitions
The Schaefer Art Gallery offers exhibitions and events to support the Art and Art History Department, augment the educational experience of Gustavus Adolphus College as a whole, and engage members of the surrounding communities. The annual 9 month exhibition calendar includes a combination of Art and Art History Department student exhibitions, contemporary work by regional and national artists or artist groups, artist lectures, and discussion based workshops.
Current Exhibition:
Student Creative Annual 2024
Student Artwork Exhibition Featuring work by:
-Studio Art Summer Project Grant Recipients:
Willa Brown '25 and Kaelyn Lobalbo '25
-Participating Gustavus Art Scholarship Students:
Lindsay Bangs '25, Nora Birkholz '27, Kristen Bonneville '27, Katrinna Deters '26,
Rosalie Dobrovolny '29, Lindsey Johnson '26, Nina Nordstrom '26
-Visual Arts Outreach, Local Area Highschool Student Artists:
Max Bultman (St. Peter Highschool), Robin Hibsher (St. Peter Highschool),
Dayne Tollefson (St. Peter Highschool), Sophia Kruschke (Belle Plaine Highschool)
Stephanie Weise (Belle Plaine High School)
November 8 - December 15
Public Reception (Coinciding with Visual Arts Day: ART PARTY!)
Saturday, November 16 | 12-3 p.m.
Previous Exhibitions:
Between Dreams:
Paintings by Michon Weeks
In Creative Collaboration with Nobel Conference 60 Sleep, Unraveled
September 3 - October 20
Exhibition closes on Fri October 18 due to College Fall Break
Public Reception Tuesday October 1, 12 - 2 pm
w/ Artist Talk 1 pm
Exhibition and Reception listed as a Break Out session in the Nobel Conference program.
Learn more HERE
trample, yearn, crash and burn
a junior art exhibition
Artworks by the current Junior Studio Arts Majors.
This exhibition fulfills the firstrequirement of a two-year exhibition
capstone experience for Studio Art majors.
Participating Juniors include Willa Brown, Rose Han,
Cosette Melton Hanily, Mya Hanson, Megan Lipke, and Kaelyn Lobalbo.
April 23 - May 14, 2024
Public Reception Tuesday April 23 4:30 - 6:30pm
Artist Series Presents
Vick Quezada
Interdisciplinary Visual Artist
Cosmic Silicates
Researchers have discovered that silica (a component of dust and clay) - one of Earth's most common substances - is formed when massive stars explode. Surrounded by the Chihuahuan Desert, El Paso, TX. is one of the leading sources of dust in Western Hemisphere.
Through artwork, found objects, "artifacts'' and videos, Vick Quezada presents a unique perspective on citizenship and belonging. Born and raised in El Paso, TX. Vick Quezada grew up in a multicultural, bilingual, working class Mestizo family. In exploring colonial histories in the region, Quezada examines the hegemonic structures today that shape labor, class, race, gender, and sexual identity.
Monday February 26th - Sunday April 7th
Public Reception Tuesday March 19th 4:30 - 6:30pm
Artist Talk 5:15pm
Collateral Healing Initiatives
Organized by Gustavus Adolphus College Professor Stanley Shetka
Stanley Shetka combines cutting-edge science and art with human reasoning and practices he has developed over fifty years of living and working with many people and cultures. His unique blend of creative scientific thinking and empathy allows him to help others develop project-based solutions rooted in innovative science that deeply incorporate the values and needs of the end users. He directs others to integrate human-centered design and evidence-based solutions into their economically feasible sustainability initiatives.
Title: Aveda Soap Dish
Medium: Paper Mill Sludge and BeesWax
TimeLine: 1998-2498
In 1919 A Joyce Kilmer poem celebrated the life of "Trees''. Collateral Healing Initiatives celebrates the next 500 years of a tree once it is removed from its base. Pure water, air and healthy soil are the only by-products of the collateral healing industrial initiatives. A Community-engaged -learning CEL project between students, their professor and Horst Rechelbacher Austrian American businessman founder of Aveda Corporation funded an entire semester's education for three art majors at Gustavus Adolphus College
November 30 - January 26, 2024
Public Reception Thursday November 30 4:30 - 6:30 pm
All Student Juried Exhibition
Open to all current Gustauvs Students 
Juried by Department of Art and Art History Faculty
Awards for Best of Show and Student Choice Award
Participating Students: Lindsay Bangs, Willa Brown,
Paige Davidson, Greta Haberman, Savanna Hanle,
Mya Hanson, Ethan Kalla, Sage Kiefer, Isabela Larsen,
Megan Lipke, Ivy Mayaka, Nina Nordstrom,
Celeste Thalhammer, Abby Willis, Jaina Zillinger
November 6 - November 22
Public Reception: Saturday November 18, 2 - 4pm
Announcing Award Winners 2:30pm
Coincides with ART Party !!
Join the Students and Faculty
from the Department of Art and
Art History for an afternoon of
Art, Activities, Fun,
and Refreshments!!
Diminutive Messengers
Works by Minneapolis Painter and Collage Artist
-Eleanor McGough
In creative conjunction with Nobel Conference 59, Twin Cities based collage
artist Eleanor McGough brings a blend of ephemeral hand cut paper installations
and acrylic paintings to the Schaefer Art Gallery. Working with a mixture of
new and recycled materials, and inspired by insect forms, McGough articulates
a sense of wonder for the astonishing variety and intricacy of these
creatures along with a sense of foreboding for the messages they convey
about the issues at play in our ecosystem.
Friday September 22 - Friday October 20, 2023
Public Reception: Wednesday October 12 - 2 pm
Artist Talk: 1:15pm
Everything and the Kitchen Sink
Artworks by the current Junior Studio Arts Majors.
This exhibition is a part of ART 299 Junior Seminar, and is part
of the 2-year capstone experience for Studio Art Majors.
Participating students include:
Alexis Concepcion, MacKenzie Groth, Anna Pozdnyakov,
Mariana Rodriguez-Guzman, Mya Santelman, Abigail Willis,
Jada Zevenbergen
April 24th - May 17th 2023
Public Reception: Monday April 24th 4:30 - 6:30pm
To view more content from this exhibition, visit the AAH departments website Link Here
MSU PRINTS: Josh Winkler and Students
Josh Winkler, Associate Professor, Minnesota State University, Mankato explores how
"the difficult narratives of Euro-American westward expansion and the destruction of forests and waterways continue to teach lessons on sustainability, the importance of our natural resources,
and cultural discrimination. My work encourages people to think about their relationship
to the environment, history, and the present moment".
Josh Winkler has also invited printmaking students from the undergraduate and graduate
level from the Department of Art and Design, Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Student participants include: Elisabeth Buffetta, Jennifer Burress,
Taryn Sakry,Alice Smith, Hanne Tebben, and Mai Tran.
The Department of Art and Art History at Gustavus looks forward to continuing
collaborative visual arts experiences with the Department of
Art and Design at Mankato State University.
Monday February 27th - Friday March 31st
Public Reception Monday February 27th 4:30 - 6:30 pm
Josh Winkler Artist Talk 5pm
To view content from this exhibition, visit the AAH Department's website Link Here
Marlena Myles - Recent Works
As part of "Indigenous Salon, Visual Arts and Public Discussion Events"
artworks by Dakota Digital Artist Marlena Myles will be installed daily
from November 28th to Dec. 5th
During this installation time, the public is invited to participate in the
creative process of an installation on the second floor, as well as meet
Marlena Myles and discuss their process and ideas behind the artwork.
Marlena will be available in the gallery for open discussion from 1 - 5pm on:
Monday Nov. 28th, Wed. Nov. 30th, Friday Dec. 2nd and Monday Dec. 5th
Monday November 28th - Wednesday December 14th
Public Reception Dec. 5th 4:30 - 6:30pm
Featuring Artist Talk, 5pm
Marlena Myles is a current Department of Art and Art History Visiting Artist, in collaboration with the PCIR, funded by an NEH grant.
To view content from this exhibition, visit the AAH Department's website Link Here
More about Indigenous Salon: 
Student Creative Suite '22
FTS Good Art Bad Art Exhibition - Salon des Refuses
Junior Studio Art Major Summer Grant Recipients Taite Stevens Aldrich, Oleander Meierhoff
Faculty/Student Collaboration Research Grant Priscilla Briggs, Cora Hentges
October 15th - November 20th
Public Reception Saturday October 15th 3-4pm during ART PARTY! - see below
Are you ok? I am not. And that's ok.
Immersive experiences to engage in creative expression, wellbeing, and self-reflection.
During the spring of 2022, Dr. Colleen Stockmann lead the Critical Issues in Art cohort to examine how arts institutions address and inform social issues including mental health. In an application of their research and inquiry, the cohort curated an exhibition of a series of immersive experiences that address mental health topics and tactics for wellbeing.
In creative conjunction with Nobel Conference 58, the Schaefer Art Gallery has created an exhibition by selecting some of these experiences and installing them for viewers to participate in. The exhibition includes immersive stations and installations designed to engage a viewer’s multiple senses within topics of creative expression, wellbeing, and self-reflection.
Wednesday September 14th - Tuesday October 4th
Public Reception: Wednesday September 28th 5pm - 6:30pm
To view content from this exhibition, visit the AAH Department's website Link Here
Insides & Outsides: Mmmmmmmmmm
Artworks by the current Junior Studio Arts Majors. This exhibition is a part of
ART 299 Junior Seminar,and represents the first significant accomplishment
in the 2-year capstone experience for Studio Art Majors.
Participating student artists include: Taite Stevens Aldrich, Madeline Campbell,Cora Hentges, Murphy Hollingshead, Hannah Jones, Vincent Kenobbie, Sage Kiefer, Oleander Meierhoff, Elliot Schroeder
April 20th - May 11th 2022
Public Reception: Wednesday April 20th 4:30 - 6:30pm
Maxwell McInnis
Dress Shopping at the Salvation Army
Family Store and Donation Center
Max McInnis is a furniture designer and sculptor who works from their current
studio in St. Paul, Minnesota. Born and raised in Davenport, Iowa, Max went on
to study furniture design at the Rhode Island School of Design. They have had
the distinct pleasure to show their work in Detroit, Minneapolis, Providence,
and New York City.
March 8th - April 6th 2022
Reception Monday March 14th 4:30 - 6:30 pm
Artist Talk Monday March 14th 3:30pm - 4:15pm FAA LEC
To view content from this exhibition, visit the AAH Department's website Link Here
McKnight Traveling Exhibition
February 4th 2022 - February 27th 2022
Featuring work by two 2020 McKnight
Artist Fellows and three 2019 McKnight
Artistsin Residence at theNorthern
Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
McKnight Fellows: Brad Menninga,
Andrea Leila Denecke
McKnight Artists in Residence:
Marcelino Puig-Pastrana,
Rebecca Chappell, and Pattie Chalmers
Creative Summer
Recent work by the Art and Art History Department’s recipients of project grants during the summer of 2021
-Featuring works for the Studio Art Major Senior Thesis by Vin Branom
Participants include:
Presidential Faculty Student Collaboration Grant - Nicolas Darcourt, Geneva VanWyk
GAC Studio Art Summer Project Grant-Anna-Olivia Machado, Sanjeeda Shutrishna, Jennifer Stageberg
November 15th - December 8th, 2021
Public Reception Monday November 15th 4:30 - 6:30pm
Putting Data Into Context
Installation work by Arlene Birt, Background Stories
In creative conjunction with Nobel Conference 57
-Big Data REvolution
September 20th - October 20th
Public Reception: October 5th - 5-7pm
Artist Talk: October 5th - 6pm
Join us in person - Schaefer Studio Arts building rm LEC (limited seating)
or
View via Zoom
meeting id: 895 3002 5437
password: 50331856
View Exhibition Content
Arlene Birt, is an infodesigner, visual storyteller, public artist and educator. She incorporates behavioral psychology to visually explain the stories behind products and places and to help individuals connect emotionally to seemingly distant environmental topics. She’s the founder of Background Stories, a company that creates “clear visuals of complex stories.” Her exhibition for this conference includes installation and participant based artworks that use data as a means of visual creativity. backgroundstories.com
Junior
Studio Art Major Exhibition
April 21st - May 6th 2021
This exhibition marks the completion of the required Junior Seminar, as part of the Studio Art Major. Participating students include:
Ann-Olivia Machado, Geneva VanWyk, Gigi deGrood, Gretchen Van Ess, Hannah Reckinger, Heather Holten,
Jenny Stageberg, Livia Shaeffer, Megan Aber, Preston Hanstad, Sanjeeda Shutrishna, Serena Small, Sophie Seivert
Sophomore Art Majors
and Art Minors Exhibition
March 29th - April 14th 2021
Current work by Sophomore Studio Art Majors and Studio
Art Minors at any year. Particapting students include:
Sage Kiefer, Cora Hentges, Lolis Vasquez, Vincent Kenobbie,
Katherine Jennings, Annalise Schaaf, Megan Morris, Madeline Campbell
Taite Stevens Aldrich, Hannah Jones
An Active and Urgent Telling
curated by
Strange Fire Collective
Supported by the Johnson Endowment for the Arts, Artist Series
L-R Rachelle Mozman Solano, Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Irene Antonia Diane Reece
February 11th - March 17th
View Exhibition Content Online
Wednesday February 17th 5-6pm
Virtual Panel Presentation including Strange Fire Artist Collective members and invited Artists
Open to the public
https://hellogustavus.zoom.us/j/82562190752?pwd=RGRFOWVjU1NNc1dLeWRHcHZVU0Nvdz09
Meeting ID: 825 6219 0752
Passcode: 08862095
Organized by Strange Fire Collective (SFC), An Active and Urgent Telling features the work of six contemporary artists working with photography to honor the weight of lived experience through an intersectional lens. Stemming from SFC’s mission, this exhibition centers artists for whom questions of identity deeply affect their relationship to representation. The work included engages with ideas of visibility and invisibility, the reality of lives that exist outside of, or in opposition to, expected and enforced social norms, and the social and political power of speaking one’s truth. Each artist contributes nuance to a redefinition of the commonly understood fabric of difference through an active and urgent telling of their own lived experiences.
Original, in-depth interviews with each exhibiting artist will be posted on strangefirecollective.comduring the exhibition to illuminate a more thoughtful understanding of the artists and their work. Exhibiting artists include Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Adama Delphine Fawundu, Penny Molesso, Rachelle Mozman Solano,
Irene Antonia Diane Reece, and Chanell Stone
Juried Student Exhibition
Juried by the Art and Art History Department Faculty
Awards: Best of Show, Student Choice Award
November 10th - November 23rd
Salon des Refusés
An exhibition of "Bad Art" inspired by historically refuted
and disputed works of art.
Featuring artwork by FTS 100 035 Good Art, Bad Art
October 28th - October 30th 2020
The Now and After
Installation works by Alison Hiltner
In creative conjunction with Nobel Conference 56-
Cancer in the Age of Biotechnology
September 16th - October 23rd
Online Artist Talk October 6th 5:30pm
Click Here: Online Gallery
ONLINE: The Junior Art Major Exhibition 2020
Works by Vin Branom, Hannah Calkins, Bryanna Filip
Darby Hurlbert, Claire Strohmeyer
May 9th 2020 - June 6th 2020
Click Here: Junior Exhibition Link
the poetics of destruction
installation by Jacob Stanley
Current Virginia A. Groot Artist-in-Residence
February 17th - March 13th, 2020
Public Reception: February 17th, 4:30 - 6:30
Artist Talk: February 17th 5:00pm
the patience is in 
the living
works by Mara Duvra
November 6 - December 11, 2019Opening Reception: November 6, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Artist Talk: 5 p.m.
Mykitas Epoch-Fungal Expansion Within the Plastisphere
Works by CV Peterson
September 4 - October 18, 2019
Opening Reception: September 24, 6-8 p.m.
Artist Talk: 6 p.m.
Imprecision
Recent Works by Jenna Hansen
April 23rd - May 24th
Reception: May 3rd from 5-7 p.m.
Transfer of Memory
March 22nd - April 14th
Reception: April 11th from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Junior Art Majors Exhibition
March 4th - March 20th
Reception: March 20th from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Inscapes
By Andrew Hellmund, Virginia A. Groot Visiting Scupltor-in-Residence
Janurary 14th - February 23rd
Reception: Janurary 17th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Art Minor Spotlight Exhibition
November 15th - December 10th
Reception: Noveber 15th from 4 to 6 p.m.
What to Do When Lost In the Woods
By Minneapolis Artist Melissa Borman
September 10 - November 1
Reception: September 19th from 4 to 6 p.m.
Contact the department of Art and Art History for more information about exhibitions from past academic years.