Mariah Masilko, 38, of South St. Paul, grew up in Grand Forks. One of her formative childhood memories are the summertime visits her family made to her grandparents in Sarles, N.D., one of many North Dakota communities that's seen its population decline.
As a painter who works with oils, colored pencils and watercolors, Masilko will be featured as an emerging artist at the Altru Health System Grand Cities Art Fest Saturday and Sunday. She said she likes to capture the forlorn and the forgotten in her art.
"I find it beautiful," she said. "I've always liked to paint and draw and I've always been drawn to abandoned buildings."
Among the pictures she's made are ones from the town of Picher, Okla., which was evacuated and declared uninhabitable due to environmental and health damage caused by lead and zinc mining.
She's also attracted to ghost towns, like Brantford, N.D., located in Eddy County.
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"I really like institutional places," she said. "I like schools, hospitals. I have a few (paintings) of the Brantford school. I love going to the places. It's my favorite part, going there and exploring and finding things."
Masilko graduated from Central High School in 1992 and studied architecture for two semesters at University of Oklahoma. She then moved to Minneapolis and received a B.A. in studio arts at University of Minnesota in 1997. She lives in South St. Paul with her husband and three small children and works fulltime for Thompson Reuters.
Masilko's work has been shown in several galleries in Grand Forks and the Twin Cities. She's had art pieces in North Dakota Museum of Art auctions and, in August 2006, she and photographer Mike Mohaupt exhibited "Forgotten North Dakota" at the Grand Forks Third Street Gallery and later at the Heritage Center in Bismarck.
Info: www.mjmasilko.com/ .
Reach Tobin at (701) 780-1134; (800) 477-6572, ext. 134; or send e-mail to ptobin@gfherald.com .
