One of Carl Gawboy’s earliest memories is seeing a muskrat skin hanging on the wall in his house. “My father trapped animals and sold them to a fur buyer,” Gawboy said. “That’s when my fascination with trapping began.” Decades later, that interest became the subject of Gawboy’s latest book, Fur Trade Nation: An Ojibwe’s Graphic History, published by Animikii Mazina’iganan: Thunderbird Press. The release date is April 30.
Carl Gawboy’s exhibit “New Paintings, Old Stories” is on view at the American Indian Community Housing Organization’s Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center on Fridays from 4 to 6 p.m. until May 27.
A Life Well Painted
This text, taken from the curriculum written by Wendy Savage, serves to introduce Carl Gawboy — a foundational artist in this region.
At Tweed Museum of Art this winter of 2021, Carl Gawboy’s stellar paintings were featured in the exhibition “A Life Well Painted: The Art of Carl Gawboy.” It featured 36 narrative paintings. Carl Gawboy is a highly respected Ojibwe and Finnish artist; he paints the beauty of everyday life of his Ojibwe people. He is an Elder and enrolled member of the Bois Fort Band of Chippewa in Northern Minnesota. Carl has been creating art since he was a child at his Finnish mother’s kitchen table. Carl’s father was a trapper, and his mother was a teacher and farmer. Carl went on to college and studied art and history, and researched the fur trade era.
A retrospective of artist Carl Gawboy was on display during the pandemic at the Tweed Museum of Art on the University of Minnesota Duluth campus. This video offers a glimpse of the works. Gawboy is a member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa.
In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
