Contemporary Anishinaabe Artist Kent Estey is an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation of Ojibwe in Northwestern Minnesota. Kent’s lineage includes many self-taught artists where black-ash basketry, beading, birch-bark, and fiber artistry were everyday occurrences in his home. Kent’s preferred art form is acrylic, oil, and ink painting. Most often, the subject matter of his paintings is about land, sky, and water. His bold and bright colors reflect his feelings and emotions as he captures the beauty of his surroundings. “I paint what I see every day,” says Kent. “It’s all I know and what I know best, so my paintings are about this piece of land, this sky, the colors and feelings as I walk through my gardens.” Kent’s work has been exhibited in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Bemidji, Grand Rapids, Wahpeton, North Dakota, Duluth, and other regional exhibitions and galleries in Minnesota. Kent was recently awarded a Minnesota State Arts Board Creative Support for Individuals grant, financial gift from the Waterers Organization, and the Region 2 Arts Council Artist Fellowship for 2023-2024. Kent has been an educator for most of his life, living and working in Naytahwaush, Minnesota.
Jakob Littlewolf is an indigenous artist from the White Earth Nation of Ojibwe where he currently resides. Although he is currently an emerging artist, he has had the privilege to watch the growth and be inspired by fellow artists from the White Earth Nation such as Paula Littlewolf and Kent Esty.
"When they had first started Gizhiigan in Mahnomen I found myself drawn to it immediately as I have always had an interest in art especially abstract and contemporary art. Whenever possible I would visit there and admire all the talented art that was being made and displayed there I found it very inspiring that members of my own community were not only main members that ran it they were also the artists that were making all these beautiful pieces of art which stuck with me for a long time until I had succumbed to alcoholism which took away all my motivation and interest to create. It wasn't until I had gotten into a terrible car accident years later that I knew that I had to get sober and stay sober. My art has helped me tremendously in achieving that. It has shown me that I am not alone and there are many amazing people who would help me grow and expand as an artist. Now that I have picked up the paints, I don't think I'll ever put them back down; I will always try to create." Jakob has been featured as an emerging artist in the Naytahwaush faces and stories exhibit and has attended multiple pop up vendor events in Naytahwaush as well as Wild Rice Days in Mahnomen and the Studio Art Crawl in Fargo ND.
