You are invited to a gallery and artist reception for Pieper Fleck Bloomquist at the University of Minnesota Crookston October 20-24. The reception will be held Monday, October 20 from 5:00-6:30 p.m. in Bede Ballroom with themed hors d'oeuvres and beverages provided. The gallery will be open for viewing during daytime hours (9-5) through October 24 and groups are welcome. If interested in bringing a group to campus, please contact Jess Bengtson at jessbeng@crk.umn.edu or call 218-281-8432.
Bloomquist is a regional artist with global ties who has nearly 30 years experience painting in the traditions of Norwegian rosemaling (decorative designs) and Swedish dalmålning (story painting) and bonadsmålning (festive embellishments). While she enjoys the free-flowing scrollwork of rosemaling, Bloomquist has become internationally known for her Swedish folk art. Using traditional materials of linen/jute, traditional gesso, and egg tempera, which she learned how to do at the Unnaryd Bonadsmuseum in Sweden, Bloomquist creates painted tapestries with scenes that narrate modern human stories – drawing inspiration from family traditions and her experience as an oncology nurse.
Based in Grand Forks, N.D., Bloomquist is a third-generation descendant of Swedish immigrants. She is a recipient of the North Dakota Governor’s Award for the Arts (2023-2025), and the 2024 Culture Bearer Award from Arts Midwest. For over 25 years she has been active in programs sponsored by the North Dakota Council on the Arts, and a regular instructor at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. She has twice been granted a Folk Arts Fellowship through the American Scandinavian Foundation.
Bloomquist’s art has been featured in the Nordic Echoes exhibit at the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s Scandinavia House on Park Avenue in Manhattan, N.Y., at the Bonadsmuseum Unnaryd (BoMu) in Unnaryd, Halland, Sweden; Scandinavian Festival in Moorhead, Minn., Swedish American Museum in Chicago, Ill., and, most recently, at a solo exhibit in Duluth, Minn.
To learn more about Bloomquist, visit https://www.instagram.com/pieperbloomquist/?hl=en