Owner of Norway Art in Minneapolis, Mary J. Thorsheim, proposed Maakestad’s works to the ART in Embassies Program Committee, which was seeking art for a large 9-foot space at the residence of the U.S. ambassador to Norway. From an array of work submitted, the artist’s Southern Minnesota Landscape Series was selected.
The Series depicts views of Southern Minnesota’s farmland and rolling hills. This is a typical subject for Maakestad who is known for his light-filled panoramas of prairie, woods and sky. He has a strong interest in ecology and nature, and he tries to portray the land as it was before any type of development occurred.
“I am attracted to the land and its patterns, colors and emotions. My interest derives from the geography of Southern Minnesota where I spent my childhood. I tend to filter my compositions and pick my subject matter based on the right set of visual circumstances, ones which build a solid foundation for color and light to play well on the surface of the work," Maakestad said.
Even though he grew up in the Midwest, the artist feels a deep connection to Norway. Both sides of his family have Norwegian roots. His father’s family emigrated from the farm called “Maakestad” (which in Norwegian means “place of the seagull”) on a branch of the Hardanger Fjord. His father, John Maakestad, is also an accomplished artist, and the retired Chair of the Art Department at St. Olaf College.
The purchase of the four Maakestad pastels is not a typical project for the ART in Embassies Program, which usually assembles temporary exhibitions of loaned works for display in U.S. ambassadorial residences worldwide. Maakestad’s Minnesota paintings, however, will be permanently displayed.