Meg Erke is a mixed media artist and illustrator working in collage and painting. Her work is inspired by the natural world (most often the woods, water, and trees of the midwest) and how we look for and find ways to connect with each other through art and nature. She is the author and illustrator of “Minnealphabet:  An Outdoorsy Homage to Minneapolis”, a picture book celebrating the city’s unique connection to natural spaces.  Meg has a BA in Visual Art from Luther College and her Masters of Education from Lesley University.  It was during her undergraduate years that she first fell in love with Book Arts and Painting as forms of artistic expression. It took another decade and leaving her career in middle and high school arts education to find ways to integrate the two mediums together. Meg’s paintings often include found text from salvaged and broken books and her Minnealphabet series includes text from old travel guides about the Twin Cities area.

Rita Panton is a ceramic artist who resides in Minneapolis.  She earned her BFA from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and in 2020 received an Emerging Artist Grant from the Jerome Foundation.  A plant lover, pastry chef, collector, hiker, and mother, Rita splits her time between the studio, the kitchen, the forest, and her family.

Panton’s work follows the tradition of visual storytelling in clay.  She records her generation’s personalities and frames of mind through drawings.  Her sculptures share glimpses of characters being themselves, often exhibiting attitudes, awkwardness and fears.  Panton explores the themes of hyperbole and balance while creating pieces that are a hybrid of flat and sculptural.

Virginia Streitz is a potter, painter and co-owner of Brickyard Pottery.