John A. Spelman III, Artist and Printmaker: From Appalachia to Minnesota’s North Shore

Exhibition at the Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery july 2 - september 6

Opening Reception: Friday, July 2, 5 - 7 pm

Author Talk: Wednesday, July 14, 5 pm

JOHN SPELMAN III, one of Minnesota's most notable artists, was an accomplished printmaker who spent much of his life in Grand Marais. Born in July 1912 in Oak Park, Illinois, Spelman often visited the North Shore as a boy, staying at the family's summer cabin, Spruce Point, near Hovland. After graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1934, he headed east to the hills of Appalachia. There he found inspiration for his artwork, much as his father, a well-known oil painter, had before him. Woodcuts and linoleum-block prints were the younger Spelman's preferred medium, but he also produced pencil drawings and watercolors, and tried his hand at poetry. From 1937 to 1941, he taught art at the Pine Mountain Settlement School in Harlan County, Kentucky. While there, he created a striking series of prints of rural cabins and homesteads, many of which he collected in a book entitled At Home in the Hills.

In 1942, Spelman moved to Grand Marais and turned his attention to depicting life in a small North Shore community. He continued to portray rural landscapes and buildings, including structures such as fish houses and logging camps that no longer exist. He also produced iconic images of churches in the Arrowhead region and elsewhere in Minnesota.

For the last decade of his life, Spelman taught art at Cook County High School. He died in October 1969 at the age of 57, and is buried in the Old Settlers' Cemetery in Hovland. Spelman leaves a legacy of great artistic and historical value. The bold and evocative style of his work encourages the viewer to consider the lives and landscapes of two different but equally remote parts of America.

To accompany the exhibit, a book by the exhibit curators Scott Husby and Tracey Cullen entitled John A. Spelman, Artist and Printmaker: From Appalachia to Minnesota’s North Shore will be available at the JHP and in local bookshops. All proceeds from sales of the book will be donated to the Cook County Historical Society.

This exhibit was sponsored by the Cook County Historical Society and made possible by a generous grant from the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation. The majority of pieces were loaned by Sharon and Donn Eliasen or are part of the permanent collection of the Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery. Other members of the local community also kindly contributed artwork.