Please join me for the opening reception of the exhibition “Winona Characters: Portrait Photography Exhibition” On Friday May 5th, 5 to 8 pm and Art of the Rural’s Outpost in downtown Winona.

After 6 rounds of of public portrait shoots, I have captured 145 portraits of Winona “characters.” I now began the long and difficult process of selecting 40 images to exhibit in the gallery space. There is limited wall space and frames for the exhibition, so I must select a limited number of images. As a consolation to those not included in the final 40 prints, all 145 portraits will be on a video loop in the gallery and on a large montage print with all portraits.

I would like to sincerely thank all of you who volunteered to model for this project. You are all a bunch of characters, unique, special, and beautiful in your own way.  Thank you for the leap of faith and trust in this project. See you at the opening reception!

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.