In Focus: Clearwater County Museum Displays Work From Local Artists

There are a lot of talented artists in Clearwater County, and right now, their work is being featured in a very unique way. You can take a trip over to Shevlin to check out the “Creative Clearwater” exhibit.

“There isn’t any art center in Clearwater County, and so we actually would be the appropriate place for this kind of exhibit,” says Tamara Edevold, the executive director of the Clearwater County Historical Society. The organization started the exhibit in November.

“We change the exhibits annually, and so we just recently closed an exhibit and we had a few months that we wanted to fill with something different and unique, and so we decided to invite local artists to come and bring their items in and we’ll display them for about three months,” says Edevold.

There’s a couple hundred items on display that use a variety of different mediums.

“I was surprised when we put the word out I assumed we would get quilters and painters and that sort of thing, but I was really surprised with some of the other things we got,” Edevold adds, “And we said, ‘at least 5 items or more, we’ll kind of see how much space we have.'”

More than 40 different artists from Clearwater County lent their work to the exhibit, so you can imagine every nook and cranny is covered. Art can be found down below or up high and nearly touching the ceiling.

“Artists brought in baskets. We have a lot of Scandinavian crafts like hardanger and some crochet and it’s really such a wide variety of items,” says Edevold.

She adds, “One of the surprising ones is the seed art. That was not anything that was on my radar and this young girl who’s 10 years old brought in two items and her friend, Patricia, brought in a few items.”

Each artist’s story can be found on display along with their work. There are even a few pieces from legendary artists that have never been on display before. The exhibit has been a hit for the museum. It will end in March, but there’s a big chance it will make a comeback.

“I expect we’ll do this again. It’s been so well received and we’ve had a lot more visitors than we would normally have,” says Edevold.

The Clearwater County Historical Society Museum is open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 in the morning to 4 or by appointment. They will also be open during a few weekends for January and February. Admission is free for all.