'Visitors from East End Colony' on display at Northern

Press release

During October, the Multicultural Center at Montana State University-Northern has invited guest artist Kris Martens, to present Visitors from the East End Colony on a 15 by 19 foot acrylic on canvas.

Visitors from the East End Colony depicts a scene of two smiling Hutterite girls.

Elaborating, Martens added, “Since several Hutterite colonies surround Havre, I became friends with a group of ladies from the East End Colony when they were picking apples in our neighborhood. When they can, they stop by to visit, have coffee, and sometimes, sing. The large painting is not typical to their everyday lives,” she said. “When visiting, the girls like to plop down on my sofa and comfortable chairs and relax as furniture at the colony is basically simple, unstuffed, and functional. I have always love the polka dot scarves and dark plaids and prints of their attire.”

Martens started painting after taking an adult education class about 10 years ago. She started with pastel, which she considers most suited to the art work she likes to do.

Everyone is invited to visit the Multicultural Center and admire Martens’ art. The Center is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Office of Diversity Awareness and Multicultural Programs invites local and regional artists to exhibit their pieces, preferably those that have some link to multicultural themes. For more information, contact c.estrada.underwood@msun.edu.