MN Artist

The mission of Good Graces Paper Co. is just as multilayered as its name. First, the designs are crafted to speak to other Black women, giving them a place to express their anger and exhaustion while finding a way to maintain hope and healing. For those outside of the immediate audience, the designs seek to challenge– to spark curiosity and conversations that will lead people to learn more about the issues and histories of which they are uninformed. But even that isn’t the entire story:  “I have some designs that are just pretty!” laughs Melanie. 

It’s Grace's artistic eye and attention to detail that allow her to transform her experiences outdoors into stunning hand-illustrated stickers, wrapping paper, and notebooks for her company Little Rocks Design. Whether as inconspicuous as a mushroom or as magnificent as Lake Superior, which Grace can see from her window in Duluth, anything can become a sticker to commemorate the environment of Minnesota in particular and the Midwest in general.

Ceramics are both beautiful objects and a domestic necessity used in intimate ways. “I love the function of the pieces I create. You are able to eat out of them; you put your mouth to them,” muses Wendy Eggerman of Functional Heirlooms. “How many forms of art do you put your mouth to? How many forms of art do you interact with on that level?”

Pauline Reller of Farmington’s Paulie's Studio shapes glass into eye-catching designs. Pauline creates dishes, jewelry, magnets, and wall hangings.

From her own botanical paintings to the coaching she provides artists and artisans, Lara Cornell challenges her community to consider the long-term impact of their work. Impact includes eco-impact, social justice, equality, biodiversity, and economic questions. Lara disrupts the myth of the starving artist in order to empower creatives to found sustainable, economically-sound businesses that make the world a little more fair. 

Meet Laura Merino-Franco of Primitiva Jewelry and learn about her conscientious approach to jewelry making. “I feel a responsibility to create ethically and from a place of clear intent,” reflected Laura.