Art Display Featured Artist Micheline “Mickey” Ronningen
Canby Public Library Featured Artist
Micheline “Mickey” Ronningen
Artist Bio
Micheline “Mickey” Ronningen said she received most of her art training at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1972 on a full-tuition scholarship. Preceding the BFA was a full summer at the SAIC-affiliated Ox-Bow Summer School of Art in Saugatuck, Michigan, and two years with the Chicago Public Community College.
Mickey’s longtime explorations in two-dimensional visual art practice began with crayons on paper at age three and extended into printmaking, filmmaking, still photography and fabric dyeing/painting. Sculpture, doll-making, and landscape design extended her reach to three-dimensions. She found further creative expression and support through writing and small-screen performance.
Turning her art practice into an art business back in 2012 was boosted by a grant from the Regional Arts & Culture Council. The grant allowed hiring the services of a professional business coach, Gigi Rosenberg. Partial outcome remains an active web site, a business account, continuing education through workshop participation, exhibition experience, numerous established art society connections, continuing studio work, and an ongoing appreciation of the learning curve involved.
Micheline’s (Mickey’s) working paid-life (receiving money for her work) began at age fourteen as a cashier at Happy Foods in Chicago at seventy-five cents an hour. Salaried work continued through college with employment at Nielsen’s rating company, Illinois Bell phone company, various office typing/filing positions, seasonal work as a Christmas tree decorator, and three years at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art primarily handling catalogue sales and exhibit installation.
Mickey has also worked on a Swiss farm as a Mother’s Helper, in Brussels as a French countess’s minion, and as a grocery cashier in a Flemish suburb in Belgium, all on a yearlong work/study visa at age twenty. Later salaried positions include criminal justice research, bookkeeping at a famous restaurant, project secretary on an environmental impact study, graphic design for the Multnomah County Education Service District, landscape design, and full-service manuscript editor and book indexer.
Visual media accomplishments include film, both still and action. Mickey's self-produced/directed/shot/and edited one-minute movie “Popcorn” was accepted to debut at the Chicago International Film Festival. Initial film work in Portland included editing film to the music of Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" for the archdiocese. While working on the I-205 project as a secretary, Mickey managed to direct video at the public information meeting and do the photo still used for the cover's final report. Numerous drawings have appeared in publishing venues, including her co-authored gardening book (“The Pacific Northwest Guide to Home Gardening”, Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, 1979) and online.
Publishing credits also include three-years writing about longevity for an online news source, producing an arts newsletter and blogging. She has also created four children’s books and a nonfiction piece on muskoxen.
Mickey uses all elements of 2-D visual art--color, value, form, line, shape, texture, composition and space--to talk about the human experience. Abstract art is the translation, allowing the flexibility to express some of those non-verbal states life tends to generate, including joy, sadness, and laughter. Such communication efforts cradle her involvements in art, writing, publishing, and small-screen performance.
Performance work came out of the blue, so to speak. It is typically comedic and began with auditioning and being chosen to play Carrie Brownstein’s mom on the Emmy award-winning show “Portlandia.” Mickey appears as Carrie’s mom in season two’s “Wanna Come to My DJ Night?.” Season three has her selling Carrie in “Art Project.” And season five’s “Carrie’s A Cool Dresser” episode also introduces Carrie's dad. The show is typically available for viewing through Netflix, Amazon, IFC, or Hulu. Mickey’s also done several successful commercial shoots: as a featured extra for two network series; the FLIR-FX home security camera spot enjoyed three million hits; a yoga shoot for a credit union aired on Superbowl Sunday;
The only other topics Mickey wants to mention are: a passion for gardening and the environment; a 45-year marriage to the same terrific man; three amazing grandsons, stepdaughter and son-in-law; a full appreciation for meditation and qigong practice; and a love of cats, though she admits dogs can be great too.
As an asthma condition supplements a situation of genetically-induced emphysema, macular degeneration, and a host of the usual aging issues, Micheline also tries to remember to practice amor fati—Nietzsche's call to embrace “the love of your fate.”
To learn more, see more of Mickey’s work, or contact Mickey go to www.artmsr.com
Are you interested in being a future Featured Artist?
We are looking for family-friendly art that is fun, colorful, and lively in all sorts of mediums!
Our patrons love artwork that depicts nature, animals, and everyday life.
Some details about us and our art display:
- Featured artwork remains on display for two months
- Our display space holds 12-20 hanging artworks depending on size.
- All pieces must be ready for installation, properly wired/mounted, etc.
- Library staff manage the hanging and removal of art work.
- Artists are welcome to sell their work during the display period. The library does not deal with payments or take any commissions on sales of artwork. All sales go through the artist.
We would love to have your work for our patrons to enjoy, in addition to providing you an opportunity for exposure and sales!
Please see below for more details and to submit your art for consideration.
Types of Art Accepted
We accept 2D art such as painting, drawing, printmaking, mixed media, collage, and photography intended to be hung on a wall. Wall-mounted works must be framed, wired and ready for display. No sawtooth hangers. Due to wall space restrictions, submitted works must not exceed 36 inches in either dimension (including frame), or extend more than 3 inches from the wall. Very heavy artwork that needs to be secured to a wall stud cannot be accepted.
Selection Process
Submissions will be evaluated by Canby Public Library staff for criteria including, but not limited to:
- Overall quality and artistic merit.
- Diversity of media, style, technique, and artistic voice.
- Detail and completeness of application.
- Appropriateness for public display particularly given the all-ages programming commonly held in the library. We will not accept artwork that includes profanity, violence, or explicit content.
Featured Artist Application
