About Sam: His work explores his Ojibwe heritage, his learnings and experiences in nature upon his return to the Grand Portage reservation while preserving shared oral histories, reimagining the symbolism of the clan animals while incorporating the natural landscape of Lake Superior’s North Shore. Sam focuses on continuing the Anishinaabe tradition of storytelling embedding the themes of environmental stewardship and conservation of the North Shore through his studio and public art commissions. He has completed public art pieces for the Grand Portage tribal nation, Chik Wauk Museum and Nature Center, Voyageur National Park and the Duluth and Grand Marais communities as a means to celebrate and preserve Ojibwemowin. He has illustrated six bilingual Ojibwemowin/English children’s books for the Red Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. He has been the recipient of grant awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, and Duluth Superior Community Foundation. He has recently completed his first Ojibwemowin/English bilingual coffee table book, a collection of paintings and stories from his first year of creating along the northern shore of Lake Superior, titled: Following My Spirit Home, published by Blackbear and Blueberries Publishing in April 2022.
His work can currently be viewed at Lizzards Gallery and Indigenous First Gallery in Duluth, MN, and Joy and Company in Grand Marais, MN. To follow his studio projects and current creations, visit Instagram at CraneSuperior and/or email him at CraneSuperiorStudio@gmail.com
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