Not Forgotten: Contemporary Art with Rural Roots


Banner Image: Jewelya Coffey, Winter Dreams & Spring Yearning, 2026, Monotype with colored pencil on paper, 37 x 50 in. Image courtesy of Nemeth Art Center. 

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“Oh, the crystal chandeliers light up the paintings on your wall,” begins the twangy country tune. The song follows the wistful imaginings of a lover forsaken for prettier, more “well to do” things than he. He wonders whether the object of his affection will feel comforted by those she has chosen over him, whether she will still feel satisfied when the novelty she sought “wares off.” Such is the lament, perhaps, of small hometowns left behind.

The forthcoming exhibition at Nemeth Art Center in Park Rapids takes its name from the song’s opening line. Curated by rural Minnesota-bred artist and sculptor Aaron Spangler, “The Crystal Chandeliers Light Up the Paintings on Your Walls” brings together five artists, also with rural roots.

Emerging Pennsylvania-based painter Samantha Joy Goff makes portraits of animalistic girls (and feminine animals) that play with the stereotypes and symbolism of Americana. Ithaca-based Matt Bollinger paints stylized scenes that portray ubiquitous, everyday life, moments with unique emotional resonance: smokers on front steps, drivers pumping gas, and townspeople in parks. Minneapolis-based Pete Driessen makes site-specific, architectural sculptures across Minnesota.

 

Image: Work by Samantha Joy Groff. Image courtesy of Nemeth Art Center. 

An opening reception for “Chandeliers” takes place Saturday, July 25 from four to six p.m., and the exhibition runs at Nemeth Art Center through September 26.

Spangler himself is an accomplished artist, exhibiting work in New York City, Los Angeles, and Berlin throughout his career, with pieces in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, as well as The Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

As far as his wanderlust has carried him—through the B.F.A. program at MCAD and through the artist’s life in New York City—he has remained tethered to rural Minnesota, the perennial subject of his work. Spangler sculpts mythic scenes in bas relief. His charcoal-colored compositions possess a transformative depth—enveloping the viewer into uncanny scenes laden with dreamlike symbolism that invoke memories, imagination, and story.

Spangler now resides in Park Rapids, where he serves on the board at Nemeth Art Center and acts as a steward of contemporary art within the rural community where he is so indelibly rooted.

 

Image: Matt Bollinger, First Snow, 2026. Flashe and acrylic on canvas, 78 x 60 in. 

Now that he has returned home to rural Minnesota, Spangler is less nostalgically fixated on his rural identity. “When I was in New York, it was more of an obsession,” he reflects. “It’s like how modern country music happened when rural people moved to urban areas to work in factories, and [the music industry] started writing songs for those people about home.” After returning home, Spangler feels more connected to his community and with the stories of others—like the craftsmanship of friend Bruce Engebretson, with whom he collaborates on woven tapestries.

Spangler is interested in the ways that art doesn’t just speak to rural communities, but originates from them. And Nemeth Art Center—an unlikely hub for contemporary art—is emblematic of his perspective. “I joined the board when I moved back from New York, so I've been on the board for like 15 years,” he says. “It’s slowly changed it to a contemporary art space.” Spangler is grateful to Nemeth’s director, Mark Weiler, who has helmed the organization’s growth and supported its contemporary art programming for the last three years.

“My wife, Amy, and I—what we think about the arts center is that our core audience is us at 16,” he says. “We both grew up here, so what is it that we needed at that time? We're three-and-a-half hours from Minneapolis, so people don't get a lot of opportunities to be exposed to contemporary visual art culture, and to be part of that greater dialogue.”

 

Image: Pete Driessen. Pheasant Ashtray, 2025. Found vintage pheasant figurines & ephemera, pinewood, plywood, ceramic textile, plastic, metal, glass, 48 x 96 x 18 in. 

 

Spangler believes that contemporary art possesses a uniquely transformative narrative power—and that the people of rural Minnesota deserve to be a part of this as much as anyone in New York City or Los Angeles does. “When the culture isn't being shown or celebrated in the area, you don't see yourselves as cultural producers in the greater world, then you just become a consumer,” he says, but hopes for more for Park Rapids.

Country music is revered for its storytelling and role in cultural identity. It stands to reason that Spangler is drawn to the metaphor of country music, since he holds that storytelling and identity art’s most quintessential roles in human life, while themes of culture, place, and past are omnipresent in his work.

“We're recording our time here on earth, here, right? It's not an easy life—but it's really important to do that, and I hope that our arts center will build the culture here in the sense that people can see themselves and what they're doing as important,” says Spangler. “Ultimately that storytelling is the most powerful thing in the world.” ◼︎ 

The Crystal Chandeliers Light Up the Paintings on Your Walls is on view through September 26th and features work by Matt Bollinger, Samantha Joy Groff, Frank Spidale, Jewelya Coffey, Pete Driessen. An artist reception takes place Saturday, July 25, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. The Nemeth Art Center is located at 301 Court Ave, Park Rapids, MN 56470. Gallery hours are Thursday through Saturday 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.