ARTBoards

ARTBoards is a Twin Rivers initiative that engages local artists to create original artwork reflecting something meaningful to them about Greater Mankato. Those original artworks are then reproduced as billboards and displayed throughout the region.

ARTBoards was made possible this year by the generous support and contribution from Knutson+Casey, a Mankato law firm specializing in Personal Injury and Criminal Law.   

Partners Randy Knutson and Patrick Casey share a great appreciation for all types of art, especially original artist concepts designed as an expression of Mankato’s landscape beauty and culture.   

This year’s collection includes five originals, including a unique creation of graffiti for Knutson+Casey. This art will be displayed on billboards all over the Mankato-North Mankato area in 2023, for all to enjoy. 

Law and Art by Jordan Brennan

Law and Art might sound like an unlikely pair at first, however; this was a super fun project to collaborate on with Knutson+Casey! We had several conversations and brainstorming calls. These conversations are crucial in getting a sense of Knutson+Casey’s personality, design style, and goals for the ARTBoard are. Their advertising and social media presence has always been extremely fun, creative and outside the box. when speaking with Randy Knutson and the rest of his team, he wanted the design to be bold and unexpected with a more painterly approach. I created three initial design sketches for them to choose from and after some additional adjustments, I then worked in Illustrator to create the official ARTBoard. Since the final product would be installed on a large billboard, I wanted the design to catch your eye from a far. I used a bold color scheme which complemented Knutson+Casey’s brand colors and the larger than life hand sprat, painting the words “Your hometown Attorneys” catches your eye as you pass the ARTboard.

Minneopa State Park by Claire Richie

My fiancé talked about how he wanted more artwork for the basement bedrooms. I decided I would surprise him with a meaningful and unique gift for Christmas last year. The two of us enjoy being active and have taken numerous bike rides to Minneopa State Park. I figured that would be a fun theme to do so I painted him two canvases, one of the Minneopa State Park entrance sign and another of the Minneopa waterfall. I used the Minneopa entrance sign painting for the contest and now it’s very fun that there’s an ARTBoard of the Minneopa billboard!

I love Mankato by Amy Poburka

“I Love Mankato” is a collage-style look at some of the landmarks that define our community. In composition, it’s based on a view of Mankato from the Belgrade Avenue bridge. On the left side of the image you see the buildings of Old Town. Moving to the right you see the old train station, then all the way to West Mankato. As the eye moves up you can spot MSU landmarks as well as the historic Blue Earth County courthouse. Landscape elements are sprinkled throughout the image to represent Mankato’s hilly topography. Of course, the most prominent aspect of this piece may be the typography, which is meant to communicate a bold and joyful quality similar to the pride Mankatoans share in their city.”

New Beginnings by Mai Tran

The print illustrates a Vietnamese individual emerging in a whole new world. There is a lot of excitement happening in terms of adapting to American/Mankato culture and sharing my own culture.

The leading figure in the center dresses in a distinctive garment from the southwest of Vietnam, where I was born. It is called “áo bà ba".” Due to the vast range of rivers in the region, people usually gather and trade their goods by boat. The market is the so-called “floating market,” and it is popular among the Mekong Delta areas. Within this Mount Kato’s snowtubing setting, the snow hill could also act as a river flow that pushes the Vietnamese figure moving forward into a new and completely different environment. Through this playful print, I want to show my way of emerging into the local culture: thrilling and unique.

Minneopa Falls by Phillip Smith

I was inspired to paint Minneopa Falls because of the beautiful way the water interacts with the sunlight as it crashes down past dark cliffs and then glides peacefully through the forest. The subject of this painting relates to Mankato because Minneopa Falls is a popular tourist destination and offers the best scenery in the Mankato area.