ARTIST STATEMENTS
We’ve Got You Covered
Rick Kagigebi & Eliza Klarer
Over the past 45 years, Rick Kagigebi has been creating appliquéd mural blankets where a story is told conveying Ojibwe cultural values. He says what’s most rewarding is people waking up the stories within themselves and to the beauty in Ojibwe culture.
Beginning in the Spring of 2025, Rick Kagigebi and Eliza Klarer began meeting regularly at the Concordia College Science Station classroom at Long Lake, Detroit Lakes MN. Throughout their time together, Rick taught both technical aspects and cultural considerations for the appliquéd mural blankets he’s been making for decades. An established and talented artist in her own right, Eliza stands out as the first person to bring this level of dedication to learn from Rick in this way, bringing her vision and cultural perspective of the White Earth Ojibwe. They continued their work at the Gizhiigin Arts Incubator and studio space there sponsored by White Earth Tribal College in Mahnomen MN.
Eliza Klarer Artist Statement
I feel that working with Rick has guided me to reconnect with our indigenous culture and practices. I feel inspired by Rick and Penny's dedication to walking a good path in this life, which solidifies my goal of becoming an inspiration to others.
On a personal note, I felt a break in my connection to the culture when my maternal grandmother, Judy Toppings, passed away in 2021, as she was committed to creating cultural art and dancing at the pow-wows. When I worked on making my blankets, I felt inclined to honor her, as she would make star quilts for our family, marking milestones in our lives. I feel honored to be chosen to learn Rick’s style of creating artworks that double as a way to heal.
About the Artists
Rick Kagigebi (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe) has lived in Detroit Lakes since 2007. Most of the years before were lived between Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation in Wisconsin and the city of Duluth where he went to college, began a life, lost everything, and began again.
Going to ceremony as a teenager with his father in 1980, Rick made his first blanket for giveaway, for healing. Many hundreds of blankets followed. While living at the Duluth YWCA transitional housing in the mid-1990s, he used an embroidery hoop to hand-stitch the appliquéd mural designs because he didn’t have a sewing machine.
Rick is a 2024 McKnight Fiber Arts Fellow and recipient of grants from Minnesota State Arts Board, Lake Region Arts Council, and Region 2 Arts Council Anishinaabe Arts Initiative. His blankets have been exhibited throughout the Upper Midwest since 2018.
Eliza Klarer is a descendant of the White Earth Tribal Nation, raised and living on the White Earth Reservation. The intricacies of the rural wilderness inspire her detailed artworks. Eliza graduated from the University of Minnesota Morris in the Spring of 2024, majoring in Studio Art with a focus on ceramics and painting. She carries on the teachings of her late grandmother, Judy Toppings, by teaching classes on woodland pottery alongside her mother, Janet Klarer. They both serve on the board of the young non-profit, Manoomin Arts Initiative.
Eliza’s plans for 2026 include a partnership with MAHUBE-OTWA through Springboard for the Arts under the Weaving Social Connections project, where she will lead art activities in Detroit Lakes to combat isolation and build community connections. She also plans to work with Kent Estey in painting a mural in Fosston, MN.
Eliza’s first solo exhibition was showcased in 2025 at Watermark Art Center’s Miikanan Gallery in Bemidji, MN, displaying the wide range of media she works in. This body of work was mainly completed during her time at UMM, where she explored themes of decay and appreciation for the natural world. By including works created by her family, she honors the legacy of her grandmother, who worked to bring the lost art of traditional woodland pottery back to life.