APPLETON - Intriguing stories about miniature painter Kimberly Jansen of Worthington, muralist Tammy DeGruchy Grubbs of Pipestone and pipe carver Rona Johnston of Pipestone will be broadcast on Pioneer Public Television at 7 p.m. April 17 on “Postcards,” Pioneer’s weekly regional art, culture and history program.
The program will be repeated at 1:30 p.m. April 18 and 7 p.m. April 21. The program will also be available for online viewing after April 17 through the station’s web site at
www.pioneer.org/postcards
.
A graduate of Worthington High School, Jansen has been working as a nationally recognized miniature artist since 1996. According to Jansen, miniature art is an age-old art dating back to the 16th century before printing presses and photography. Now there are miniature art societies around the world and in 2006, Jansen was selected as a signature member of the Miniature Artists of America.
Grubbs discovered Pipestone 13 years ago after she was hired to work for three months creating a mural at the Washinton High School. “My kids loved the place, they just absolutely loved everyone in Pipestone, and the schools and stuff,” Grubbs recalled.
So, they decided to give the town a try. A native of New Mexico, Grubbs has been painting since she was 5. She is a nationally recognized teacher and lecturer who creates custom sets for theaters, murals for restaurants and coffee houses, and personal commissions for individuals.
After graduating from Pipestone High School, Johnston traveled all around the U.S. and Canada selling her beadwork, leatherwork and carvings. She has studied sacred pipe carving under several teachers and now works with Keepers of the Sacred Tradition of Pipemakers, an organization based in Pipestone centered around the pipestone quarries located in the Pipestone National Monument.
