Native artist Gordon Coons, ended his exhibit at The Edge Center in Bigfork on Friday with five classes at the Bigfork School during the day and a reception in the evening. His abilities in traditional American Indian art impressed visitors. He sold more paintings than any previous individual artist who exhibited at the Edge Gallery. One of Coons’ paintings may be part of the Edge’s permanent collection.
Gordon Coons, because of his Ojibway and Ottawa heritage, has chosen to work in the Eastern Woodland and the Ledger styles. He is a self-taught artist, now living in Minneapolis, and is an enrolled member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribe of northern Wisconsin.
His student classes started with 14 Native American students from Grand Rapids and then included several grades from the Bigfork School. The talks he gave after the classes helped students and other visitors understand what lies behind his color and symbol choices.
The evening reception was well attended. A special thanks to Karen Ferlaak for bringing Gordon’s work to the gallery and the whole gallery committee for their help in making it such a success. We hope to see Gordon Coons back for a return show in the future.
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