Artist: Duane Mickelson

Sculptor Duane Mickelson created this untitled piece from welded steel, found wood, leather and bronze as part of a series motivated by musings about the animals that might have left the tracks outside his rural home.

First exhibited in an M State Invitational Art Show, it was purchased with funds from the Donald E. Dybdal Fine Arts Fund.* The invitational shows, a decades-old tradition at the college, feature a wide range of regional artists, and works from the shows are often purchased for permanent display at the college.

Mickelson began sculpting as a student at Concordia College in Moorhead. Motivated by his passion for both teaching and creating art, he had a 35-year career as an associate professor of art at the college. Many of his works were inspired by his natural surroundings near Rolllag, where he and his wife lived on wooded land adjacent to a small lake.

Mickelson exhibited extensively in the Fargo-Moorhead area and received numerous regional and national art awards. His works can be found in private and public collections throughout the world. He retired from Concordia College in 2014 and died in 2015.

_{*The Donald E. Dybdal Fine Arts Fund was created by bequest from the estate of Donald E. Dybdal to Fergus Area College Foundation in 1999 to further enhance the visual arts at M State. The fund has been used to purchase visual art and support educational opportunities in the visual arts.}