Fred Hagstrom, Humphrey Doermann Professor of Liberal Learning and Rae Schupack Nathan Professor of Art, has been named the 2014 Minnesota Book Artist Award Winner for his new piece entitled "Passage." This annual award, presented by Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) and the Minnesota Book Awards, recognizes a Minnesota book artist or book artist collaborative group for excellence of a new artistic work, demonstrated proficiency and quality in the book arts through three pieces of supporting previous work, as well as an ongoing commitment and significant contributions to Minnesota’s book arts community.
An exhibit celebrating Hagstrom’s work runs January 24 through March 30 in the second floor literary commons of the Open Book building, 1011 Washington Avenue South in Minneapolis. A reception showcasing the exhibit and honoring Hagstrom takes place Friday, January 24 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Open Book, with a brief program and presentation at 6:30 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public, and features live music, hors d’oeuvres, and wine. Exhibits of Hagstrom’s work will also be featured at other venues throughout the state this year, including Saint Paul’s Central Library this spring.
Additionally, Hagstrom will receive special recognition and an award at the 26th annual Minnesota Book Awards Gala on Saturday, April 5 at Saint Paul’s Union Depot. Awards will be presented that evening to the winners of eight book categories (Children’s Literature, General Nonfiction, Genre Fiction, Memoir & Creative Nonfiction, Minnesota, Novel & Short Story, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature), the Kay Sexton Award, sponsored by Common Good Books, and the biennial Hognander Minnesota History Award. Gala tickets will go on sale in late January.