Rumriver Art Center has art on display at Allina’s Customer Experience Center in Coon Rapids, MN (8880 Evergreen Blvd, Coon Rapids, MN 55433). The current gallery show features the art of Duane Christensen. He has a variety of screeen paintings on display. Check out some of his work below!
ABOUT
Duane studied Graphic Art at Minneapolis Vo-Tech and has a background in photography, printing and screen printing. Duane was looking for a medium to express his creativity. When he read about William Oktavec and his screen paintings in Baltimore in the early 1900’s, Duane was excited to see if he could express himself with that style.
Duane spent four years developing his techniques. His goals were to resurrect this style of painting, create memories of places he’s seen, and repurpose window screens and window frames.
CONTACT THE ARTIST
Duane would be happy to discuss how your memories can become part of your window screens or screen doors. Screens can be painted at your business, home, cabin, lake home, job site or at our studios located in central Minnesota. Please contact Duane for more information: https://turtlecreekstudios.com
SOCIAL MEDIA
https://turtlecreekstudios.com
PURCHASE INQUIRIES
Interested buyers should contact Kiana Packer at kiana@rumriverart.com.
SCREEN PAINTING
Screen painting is painting on window screens. It is a folk art form originating in immigrant working-class
neighborhoods of Baltimore, Maryland, in the early 20th century.
The wire screen section of a screen door is typically painted with bucolic landscapes, still lifes, or other subjects of
interest.
The artist paints the scene directly onto the screen, making sure to remove excess paint from the screen’s holes so the
screen retains its ability to ventilate.
The scene painted on the screen prevents the eye from focusing past the image, giving residents privacy without
limiting their ability to look outside.
Screen painting was invented by the Czech immigrant William Oktavec to restrict sunlight from entering his produce
store. He had studied commercial art and drawing before opening his Baltimore store. The technique was later taken
up in other neighborhoods by other artists.
It is estimated that as many as 100,000 painted screens in Baltimore once adorned the rowhomes. As of 2014, there
were only 1,000 screen paintings left.
