Form + Content Gallery Celebrates its 15th Anniversary with a group exhibition of past and current artist-members.

In 2005 two Minneapolis-based artists, Robyn Stoller Awend and Camille Gage, began meeting together to discuss the Twin Cities visual arts landscape and how they might collaborate on a new artist-driven initiative. Additional artists were invited to participate and the conversations took the form of a regular gathering in the living room of Jil Evans’ and Charles Taliaferro’s home in Minneapolis. After a time the discussion group expanded to a total of 12 individuals.

A variety of ideas were put forward and considered. By 2006 the group decided to form a gallery on a new model and call it Form + Content. The gallery established itself as a limited liability corporation and all 12 members formed the Board of Governors of the corporation. This required the artist-members to also run the company; but in exchange the artists retained 100% control over the artistic direction, exhibitions, and events sponsored by the gallery. The members’ vision for this new platform was summarized in the gallery’s mission statement:

Form + Content Gallery will nurture diverse artistic practice and thoughtful dialogue. We value art as a catalyst for critical thinking. We value integrity and the artistic process. We aspire to link personal expression to broader social contexts.

After months of exploring neighborhoods across Minneapolis and St. Paul, the members settled on the Whitney Square Building in the North Loop section of downtown Minneapolis. On March 1, 2007 Form + Content Gallery opened the inaugural exhibition Trace Elements. The gallery invited Doryun Chong, Assistant Curator of Visual Art at Walker Art Center, to choose the members’ artworks for the exhibition, which was organized around the following themes: Nature and the Natural Environment, The Inner Self, Repetition and Variation, Politics and Memory.

Opening reception for Trace Elements, the inaugural exhibition at Form + Content Gallery, March 2007. Mayor R.T. Ryback stood on a folding chair and addressed the overflow crowd.

The collaboration with Doryun Chong signaled the gallery's ambition to work in partnership with the community and make a valuable contribution to the Twin Cities visual arts ecology. Since Trace Elements in March 2007, Form + Content Gallery has presented 125 exhibitions and shown the work of artists from the Twin Cities, Minnesota, the United States, and numerous other countries. The exhibitions have been organized by artist-members of the gallery and by curators from the community including Christopher Atkins, Doryun Chong, Kristin Mackholm, Dean Otto, Colleen Sheehy, Suzanne Slavick, and Jenny Wheatley. In 2007 the gallery initiated its Internship Program and since then has welcomed over 60 students enrolled in colleges in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin who have assisted with gallery exhibitions, programs, and events. The interns also participated in group Intern Exhibitions they organized at the gallery.

Form + Content Gallery has published two editions of original art. In 2008 the gallery published Intimate Immensity, a portfolio of prints in a variety of media by artist-members and 3 guest artists. This edition entered the permanent collections of Carleton College, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Minnesota Historical Society, Walker Art Center, and the Weisman Art Museum. In 2011 the gallery published connections, an artist book with contributions by artist-members and 3 guest artists

Most of the past and current artist-members of the gallery are represented in the group exhibition Thoughtful Dialogue. The exhibition includes atworks in a variety of media with a common scale of 15 inches in any dimension. Past and current artist-members of the gallery include: Robyn Stoller Awend, Christine Baeumler, James Boyd Brent, Arlene Burke-Morgan, Chris Cinque, Crescent Collective (Laura Bigger, Artemis Ettsen,Teréz Iacovino), Jim Dryden, Elizabeth Erickson, Jil Evans, Camille J. Gage, Leah Golberstein, Annie Hejny, Jay Isenberg, Ellie Kingsbury, Vesna Kittelson, Kristen Lowe, Joyce Lyon, Mike Marks, John Marshall, Lynda Monick-Isenberg, Clarence Morgan, Marty Nash, Kathryn Nobbe, Patricia Olson, Howard Oransky, Mark Ostapchuk, Steve Ozone, Gwen Partin, Faye Passow, Jeff Rathermel, Michal Sagar, Kenneth Steinbach, Sandra Menefee Taylor, Jody Williams, Jeff Wetzig, Kathy Wismar, and Cameron Zebrun.

The space for thoughtful dialogue that the collective sought to cultivate is ever expanding and still much needed in the cultural landscape of the Twin Cities, Minnesota, and beyond.

– Christina Schmid

Exhibition Dates: April 21 - May 28, 2022

Public Reception: Saturday, April 30, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Exhibition Hours: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 12:00 – 6:00 pm
Appointments are not required.

If you wish to visit outside of gallery hours please email formandcontent@gmail.com to make an appointment.

Participating Artists

Robyn Stoller Awend Robyn Awend received her MFA from University of Dallas. She exhibits her work locally and nationally, and is a founder of Form + Content Gallery.

My work is text-based, using text as image. Words and word fragments inspire my letterpress prints and mixed media installations, exploring identity and cultural influences.

Christine Baeumler Christine Baeumler is an environmental and socially engaged artist whose collaborative and interdisciplinary practice addresses issues of water quality, habitat restoration, and climate change.

I am intrigued by the power of the imagination to connect us to Place and create a sense of kinship with the world around us.

James Boyd Brent James Boyd Brent is Professor in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota. His studio practice centers on printmaking and painting.

This etching is one of a series about bridges in Minneapolis. Animals and people came over this bridge but now they’re having to go back again.

Arlene Burke Morgan Born in Philadelphia, Arlene Burke-Morgan was a visual artist whose multidisciplinary practice included ceramic sculpture, drawing, and painting.

Take your time, there is no rush. A wall, an endless wall, walking through, in and out of shapes of color. I see with my inner eye and then I do. The work continues.

Chris Cinque Chris Cinque has had (overlapping) careers as theater artist (writer, director, performer), ELL teacher, and visual artist (collage), each 20 years in length (and counting).

My inscrutable and painful past and the calm I feel for the future coalesce in the creation of collages telling stories through color and form.

Crescent Collective (Laura Bigger, Artemis Hansen, Teréz Iacovino) Founded in 2012 by Laura Bigger, Artemis Ettsen, and Teréz Iacovino, Crescent Collective combines art and architecture to investigate the intersection of plants and people. Their work has been funded by Forecast Public Art, the University of Minnesota DOVE Summer Research Fellowship, and the Institute on the Environment. They have exhibited nationally and are currently working on a new installation for an upcoming exhibition at the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati, OH.

Our work responds to the often tenuous relationship between nature as we imagine it and the myriad of urban, domestic, and agricultural landscapes found today. We explore the ways in which humans engage with the environment and consider how these interactions are mediated through technology. Combining images, objects, and installation, our works often incorporate living materials that change over time. We are currently each experimenting with chimeric hybridizations of humans and plants through mixed media.

Jim Dryden Jim Dryden is a Minneapolis painter, printmaker, and sculptor. His work frequently deals with themes of relationship, connection, and intimacy.

Conveying thoughts, ideas, and emotions through the use of simple geometric forms - particularly circles and ovals.

Elizabeth Erickson Elizabeth Erickson has worked as a painter, poet and educator since l970. She was a founding member of WARM, the founder and Director of the Women’s Art Institute and is Professor Emerita at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

As an artist, I am primarily interested in the rhythms of human living, how this can become art that reveals the experience and aspiration of the soul, unique to each individual.

Jil Evans Jil Evans is a painter and writer. She has exhibited internationally and has been awarded national grants. Her work is in museum and private collections.

The Diver series continues Evans’ abstract exploration of flood waters, focusing on the phenomena of currents encountering obstacles and diverting flow into new territories.

Camille J. Gage Camille J. Gage is a musician, artist, and writer whose work explores contemporary social issues.

Gage created Ballot Box after the 2016 election. The piece is a response to the damage the former administration has done to our nation and our democracy.

Annie Hejny Annie Irene Hejny is an abstract visual artist and Forest Therapy Guide working in Minneapolis. Contact for inventory or commission inquiries: www.annie-hejny.com

My abstract artwork is inspired by my connection with nature, often incorporating collected elements from the natural world into the work itself, such as river water and sediment.

Jay Isenberg Jay H. Isenberg is a practicing architect/artist who explores diverse themes that emerge at the intersections of architecture, psychology, law and ethics. Part of this exploration involves blurring fact and fiction.

Came across this photo at a flea market in Northern Vermont. Have no idea who these two boys are nor what became of them. I am mesmerized by their innocence.

Ellie Kingsbury Ellie Kingsbury, a fine art photographer for over 30 years, is increasingly exploring alternative substrates in her lens-based work, as well as producing interactive installations.

I pay attention to the mundane and reveal a confidential worldliness. Body language is everything. Fill in your own story.

Vesna Kittelson Born in Bosnia-Hercegovina, raised in Croatia. Collections: Tate Britain, Victoria and Albert, Getty Research Center, Walker Art Center, MN History Center, WAM, Smithsonian Dibner Library.

A visual poem, drawn to honor democracy as a cultural treasure. I write-erase ushering in a prevalent thought, moving circularly because there is much to say.

Kristen Lowe An artist; teaches for Gustavus Adolphus College Studio Art and Art History. Upcoming exhibitions: Winona State University (fall 2022) and MN Landscape Arboretum (spring 2023)

Hand-carving richly painted softwood with intricate patterned, animal occupied compositions to generate “drawings” that reveal detailed charcoal scenes nestled within the landscape.

Joyce Lyon Joyce Lyon uses drawing and artist’s books / digital installations to address issues of identity, history, the natural world and aging from a personal and female perspective.

“There are holy places and unholy places that speak to us when we walk upon them.” —Marge Piercy

Mike Marks Mike Marks’ prints and drawings have been exhibited and collected both nationally and internationally. He recently was a McKnight Foundation Fellow in Printmaking.

Does the hand remain a conduit between personal memory and digital information? This hand-carved woodcut mimics digital mark-making in recalling a boreal forest.

Lynda Monick-Isenberg Lynda Monick-Isenberg has exhibited locally and nationally. Her work is included in the collections of Minnesota History Center, Minneapolis Institute of Art, and Weisman Art Museum.

Passages is the first of a series inspired by conversations and study in the 2021 Jewish Artist Lab regarding place, identity, brokenness/wholeness, love, belonging, loneliness, loss, family, ritual and our place in the natural world.

Clarence Morgan Clarence Morgan is a visual artist working in painting and drawing, with additional experience in printmaking. He is based in Chicago, IL and Minneapolis, MN.

I embrace improvisation and moving the work forward without forethought. Approaching work in this manner allows the visual elements to locate their own equilibrium (emotional and harmonic balance).

Marty Nash Marty Nash has been a Minnesotan for the better part of her life, receiving her undergraduate and graduate education through the University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Before embarking on her teaching career, she was a founding member of WARM Gallery (where her real education began.) She has been a member of Form and Content Gallery since 2016.

“All familiar things can open into strange worlds.” Jasper J

Kathryn Nobbe Kathryn Nobbe’s award winning career spans 4+ decades. Her work is represented in collections worldwide. MFA in Studio Arts,1990, University of Minnesota; Skowhegan School, 1989

My work inhabits a liminal zone between representation and abstraction, exploring metaphors of the human body and our planet in transition, simultaneously vulnerable and resilient.

Patricia Olson Born in south Minneapolis, Olson studied at Macalester College and Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She is a founding member of WARM and professor emerita of St. Catherine University.

“The pleasure of seeing into the life of things is one of the least celebrated and most important of the panoply of satisfactions.” Rebecca Solnit

Howard Oransky Howard Oransky was born in Los Angeles. He is a founding member of Form + Content Gallery and has a studio at Traffic Zone Center for Visual At.

I’m looking for that edge where structure and improvisation intersect.

Mark Ostapchuk My MFA is from the University of Minnesota. I have a McKnight Fellowship. Exhibition venues include MCAD, Phipps Center, Minneapolis Institute of Art, and Form+Content.

My visual work is often marked by bright colors, obsessive patterns, and a willingness to revise and build up more than a few layers.

Steve Ozone Steve Ozone is a photographer and filmmaker with a studio practice in Minneapolis. A former commercial photographer, he exhibits both locally and nationally.

Using scanning technology, Steve Ozone creates mysterious still lifes that transform flora, fauna and non-organic objects into otherworldly creatures.

Gwen Partin I am a visual artist and former graphic designer, illustrator and teacher. I work in printmaking, drawing, collage and book arts from my studio in Minneapolis, MN.

I interpret my lived experience using my body to manipulate materials to see what kind of pleasant surprises happen, a continuum of interesting outcomes.

Faye Passow Faye Passow has a printmaking background, has participated in many regional exhibitions, and is included in the collections of the MIA, the Walker Art Center and the Minnesota History Center, among others.

I start with a solid black rectangle on a litho stone and scrap out the negative areas with razor blades, creating images with depth, richness and a general sense of foreboding.

Michal Sagar Michal Sagar is the Visual Arts Department Chair at Breck School and a current member of Form+Content Gallery in Minneapolis. Working with a range of drawing materials, paint, encaustic, and sculpture – she brings a sense of the essential mark into all of her processes.

“Flowers are allegories of consciousness.” – Novalis, “fragment 284”

Kenneth Steinbach Kenneth Steinbach, a Twin Cities based artist and teacher, was a Form + Content Gallery member for about five years.

The drawings in the Fiat series use imagery and compositions from failed and discarded currency systems from across the globe.

Sandra Meneffee Taylor My work usually falls into the category of social practice. It can be large installations to hand-sized artist books, addressing themes such as connections of body/land. The work has been included in the pivotal book by writer Lucy Lippard in The Lure of the Local, as well as a solo exhibition and book called Vital Matters supported by the Plains Art Museum.

The book was formed in the days following cancer surgery by rituals of care and healing between myself (Sandra) and my caregiver Claire). As an artist I needed a creative ritual to connect and record this life saving trauma. Daily Claire and I took 2 photographs. The healing body, the marks left on it by the surgeon, and a vase of fading flowers. In the end of this ritual, we completed the circle by presenting a copy of this book to the surgeon.

Jody Williams Jody Williams has received fellowships and grants from the Jerome Foundation, MCBA, MCAD, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. In 2008 she was awarded the inaugural Minnesota Book Artist Award from the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library, which she received again in 2019. www.flyingpaperpress.com

My collages include actual specimens, documenting with physical evidence the process of collecting and ordering specific moments in specific places. Tiny details can reveal inherent meanings and evidence of their roles in their immediate environments, and of their place in the cosmos.

Jeff Wetzig Jeff Wetzig is an artist living off-grid outside Frederic, Wisconsin. He is the recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant and a Macdowell Fellowship.

My print is part of a body of work that celebrates the free objects and signs that spring up on our curbs.

Cameron Zebrun Cameron Zebrun is a sculptor and photographer who lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with his wife Ellen Leeds-Zebrun. Cameron’s artwork represents his interest in creating objects of fine craftsmanship and illustrates his preoccupation with presenting landscape subject matter in surprising and non-traditional ways.

My ever-evolving fascination with portraying landscape subject matter in surprising and non-traditional ways continues to energize and motivate me.

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