Prolific Duluth artist skilled in a variety of mediums

By Andrea Busche

We in the Twin Ports are fortunate to live in a community that supports the arts. Our region is saturated with writers, photographers, actors, painters, jewelry makers and others who use their art not just to express themselves, but to make a living. As a result, our community is a much richer and more interesting place to be.

One of these working artists is Duluthian Ann Klefstad, who has worked as a writer, editor and artist for many years. And, for the last decade, art has been her primary source of income.

Some may know Klefstad for her art. For instance, “Fox Path” is a sculptural bench Klefstad created for the city of St. Paul. It is located in May Park, next to a playground. Her photography and paintings have been shown in a variety of studios and galleries. You might even recognize her byline from the pages of The Woman Today. And for those from the Lakeside neighborhood, Klefstad is the artist who created the bronze sculpture honoring the memory of the beloved neighborhood feline known as Catsby.

At age 64, Klefstad has carved out a path of her own choosing. She receives inspiration from the natural world, and her life is rich with the joy of creation. Making a living doing what she loves is simply the icing on the cake.

Rural upbringing

Klefstad is one of five children. She was raised in

Greenbush, Minnesota, a town of just 700 people, where Klefstad’s parents operated a clinic. Her dad was a physician and surgeon, and her mother handled the business side of the clinic.

Art was always a big part of Klefstad’s life.

“I was always interested in the nature of things, how what they looked like was what they meant, in some way,” she said.

“I wrote a lot of stories as a kid and into high school; I always drew and painted, and did woodcuts and clay. For me, art and writing are not ‘self-expression’ — they are how to escape the tyranny of the self, which can be so oppressive in this nation, this culture. They are how to come to know the world, especially the natural world, on its own terms. They are a kind of full-body analysis, a road out of the self into union with the living world.”

Klefstad’s first job was working at her parents’ clinic, which was attached to their house. After graduating high school, she enrolled at St. Olaf College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree with a triple-major in fine arts, English and philosophy. During her college years, she worked as a waitress and an artist’s model.

Career progression

Klefstad’s career has followed a unique path. For a time, she worked in a factory in Minneapolis. She later moved to

The St. Louis County Government Services Building boasts “Estuary Plaza” filled with sculptures by Duluth artist Ann Klefstad, including “Turtle Rocks.”

San Francisco and got a job at a bakery.

Eventually she got restless, leaving both the bakery job and San Francisco behind. Klefstad began what she calls “nomading around,” ending up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, living with a Canadian poet and trying to write art reviews.

Eventually, she ended up in Los Angeles. There, she began copy editing for an academic press, writing pieces for a reference book company, and became a fiction editor.

After having her first child (Klefstad has two children, ages 25 and 30), she began a long period of freelance editing, and eventually began writing reviews for arts magazines. After moving to Duluth, she continued freelance editing and arts writing, eventually taking an editor job for mnartists.org, a Walker Art Center project. She later worked as an arts and entertainment reporter at the Duluth News Tribune until she was laid off during the recession of 200809.

At that point, “I had to think of something else to do,” she said. “I continued freelance editing for book publishers, but that work was scarce — so many media people were out of work. I had done some public art commissions in previous years, so I decided to go all in for that. Within a couple of years, I had enough art commission work to get by.”

Today

Today, Klefstad works primarily as an artist.

“The art has been, for the last decade, my primary income,” she said.

She does public art commissions, usually a couple a year, and also sells her work online.

“I am currently working on two commissions, one for St. Louis County’s new Government Services Building in Virginia (the piece is a plaza seating area/sculpture called ‘Microcosmos’), and one for a park in St. Paul, Peace Park in the Midway, a memorial piece that will be called ‘Dragonflies on High,’” she explained.

“I also continue to do the Pack and Herd series, the Carbon series (Animals of the Anthropocene, carved and burned and oiled in a process called Shou Sugi Ban — it weatherproofs the wood. These works relate to global warming and its effects on the natural world). I also do Sumi-e ink paintings on birch panels. A series of Intaglio prints (drypoint and monoprint) is the newest addition to the family, also on the theme of Animals of the Anthropocene.”

Klefstad also continues to work occasionally as a writer.

“I haven’t done a lot of journalism lately, but I do still do writings for art exhibition catalogs and the like,” she noted. “I’ve done several longer pieces for the Tweed Museum about exhibitions they’ve done — which are published in the exhibition catalogs. And, I wrote an essay for the Joseph Nease Gallery on Tara Austin’s marvelous show there.

“But, the writing project I’m most excited about is for children,” she said. “I have a middle-grade novel I keep tweaking in the hopes of finding it a home, and several of what you might call ‘mystic science picture books’ that need illustrating. I work with a group of local writers who have taught me so much about writing for children! I’m very, very lucky to be able to work with them.”

Klefstad also served on the Duluth Public Art Commission for six years.

Recognitions

Klefstad has been recognized many times throughout her memorable career. She has received grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council.

One year, her work earned the “Best in Show for Photography” award from the Park Point Arts Fair. She won the Best Short Feature award from the Minnesota chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists; and has received several Minnesota Magazine Awards for written features. Klefstad, along with her collaborator, also received an Honors Award from the American Institute of Architects for a commission they did for St. Paul Riverfront on Harriet Island.

Personal life

Klefstad shares her home with her dog, an Akita named Kuma. She loves the outdoors, and likes to kayak, fish and camp. She also enjoys sailing, and owns a Cape Dory Typhoon sailboat.

Klefstad has enjoyed a prolific career in the arts, thus far. And, she is talented and hard-working enough to be able to earn a living doing what she loves.

Despite her accolades, when asked what she’d like her legacy to be, she replied simply: “Really, just that I’ve been able to make things better for those I love.”

Visit annklefstad.com to learn more. D

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