Join Lanesboro Artist-in-Residence Hawona Sullivan Janzen as she shares back how her month-long residency went, what she worked on during her time in Lanesboro, and how the residency in Lanesboro connects to her other work, including Freeway Stories.

Starting at 5 pm at the Sons of Norway, Hawona will share the poem she has crafted that was inspired by community conversations. There will also be an opportunity for Q&A, and conversation with Hawona. The poem that she has written will be displayed throughout town on yard signs for folks to discover. Stay tuned for more information about how and where to see the poem out and about in town.

About Hawona Janzen

Hawona Sullivan Janzen is a St. Paul-based writer, historian, and social practice artist who believes that art is the only thing that can save us from ourselves. A 2023 graduate of the University of Minnesota’s MFA program in Interdisciplinary Art and Social Practice, she is a recipient of awards from MRAC, the Jerome Foundation, McKnight Foundation, and Minnesota State Arts Board. Her poetry has been read on National Public Radio, featured in Martin Luther King Jr. Park for the “Rondo Family Reunion” project, installed on 100 lawn signs hosted in residents’ front yards for the “Love Letters for the Midway” public art project, and sandblasted into the Dale Street Bridge. Learn more about Hawona and her residency here.

About the Residency

Freeway Stories is a project inviting people across Minnesota to share their stories of and relationship with highways, freeways and interstates. The idea behind the project is to create a series of short poems on yard signs that weave elements from the storytelling events in which our Minnesota stories are shared — first in the community that shared them, then across the landscape in excerpts to build a collective transportation narrative. 250 Stories: Lanesboro Takes to the Road is an off-shoot of the Freeway Stories project, and is what Hawona will be working on during her month-long residency in Lanesboro.

The Lanesboro Early Career Artist Residency Program is supported by the Jerome Foundation.