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By Jed Nelson

Grand Meadow students Nathan Fretty and AJ Olson took home a Spotlight on the Arts award from the 2025 Minnesota State Visual Art Show recently. Fretty, a senior, and Olson, a junior, had pieces that were awarded Best in Show for Section 1A.

“It’s fun to see what they have learned from me over the years,” Grand Meadow K-12 Art teacher Sonja Johnson said. “But them doing their own thing and bringing it into class and winning the contest was very cool to see.”

Fretty’s sculpture titled “Guts” depicts a battered fighter resting with his sword after what looks like a taxing, brutal fight. Olson’s multi-media work titled “Peace in Chaos” is a psychedelic playground of color, shapes, and fine, detailed lines that would surely capture the attention of any judge or audience member.

The road to the State Visual Art Show was by no means easy for either student. It was a six-week process for Fretty, as he spent three weeks sculpting, then three more weeks painting and adding extra details.

“Every single day I spent the first two hours of the school day working on my sculpture to try and make it as good as I could,” Fretty said.

Olson wasted no time working on “Peace in Chaos,” as he began the project last year. 

“I started working on this piece right after submitting a project in last year’s show,” Olson said. “Overall, it took me about 10 hours of detailing it. It was a lot of sitting down and working hard – trying to make it look like one piece.”

The Minnesota State Visual Art Show happens each year in April. Students are encouraged to submit their work to be accepted and judged as part of a self-judged show, where one piece from each category is picked as the best. This year, students’ work was taken to Century High School in Rochester to be displayed and judged before the winning art pieces are taken to the Perpich Center in Golden Valley, Minnesota where they are then part of a non-judged art show.

“Any student in grades 9-12 are encouraged to submit their work,” Johnson said. “And you don’t have to be taking an art class, either. It’s open to anyone.”

Being in the art room at Grand Meadow aided in both Fretty and Olson’s passion for art.

“The class feels very free,” Fretty said. “I go in and grab clay and start on a project. It doesn’t ever feel like an assignment because we get to make what we want to make.”

“Being in class with other people, having that free time to be creative with other people, and working off each other is what makes being in class a lot of fun,” Olson said.

Johnson described the importance of her art room and art education as being a good thing for students’ mental health.

“Most students come to my room for a break where they can make art, to create something,” Johnson said. “Most of them ask if they can stay in there the whole day. It’s a space where they come in, hangout with their friends, and make art that keeps them busy.”

“It gives kids the creativity and confidence to make new things instead of following something that is a guided assignment,” Fretty said. “It really sparks kids’ creativity.”

“I think it’s important to have art classes because it gets kids to find their own special way to represent who they are,” Olson said. “And with how many types of art there are, it’s not like you have to be good at a certain one – I think this wide range helps kids think outside the box.”

Both students plan to continue their passion for art in the future.

“Going to college, I hope to take a ceramics class, or any art class, to try and keep doing art,” Fretty said. “I stopped doing ceramics for a long time when I was younger, and in the past two years I’ve done ceramics to get back into things. It’s brought it back to me.”

Aside from creating visual art, Olson also has a passion for music.

“I’m a big fan of music, so I would like to pursue music too,” Olson said. “Otherwise, painting murals for places, or having opportunities to do smaller works of art is something I will definitely take.”