Alex Olson ’18
Studio Art Major
Based in St. Paul,
He/Him
“My artwork is driven by a curiosity about the natural world, human connection, and the transformation of raw materials. Motion in the landscape — weather, light, shadow, fauna — feeds my desire to create and inspires the photographs, functional pottery, and installations that I craft.”
Professional Life Post-Carleton
2020
- “The Woodfired Cup,” Smallest Museum in St. Paul, St Paul, MN
- “Kindled Spirits,” Good Earth Pottery, Bellingham, WA
- Social Media Co-Manager, EllisWalker Gallery, Bowling Green, KY
- Social Media Manager, Creative Enterprise Zone, St Paul, MN
2019
- Gallery Intern, Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
- Woodturning Instructor, Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, WA
2018
- “BAM ARTSfair,” Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue, WA
- “Out of the Woods – Traditional Form Revisited,” AAW International Woodturning Symposium, Portland, OR
- Studio Assistant to Deborah Schwartzkopf, Rat City Studios, Seattle, WA
Favorite memory of life at Carleton
“Every Art professor I studied with at Carleton brought an incredible amount of enthusiasm, encouragement, and expertise to the classroom, and so much joy and curiosity to the learning process. One of my favorite memories of the Art Department was studying with Fred Hagstrom and Dan Bruggeman on the Studio Art in the South Pacific Trip, and seeing their personalities and artistic strengths complement one another to foster an engaging and delightful learning environment.”
Favorite memory of studying with Linda River Rossi
“River Rossi was my first Art professor at Carleton, and her mentorship is one of the main reasons I ultimately majored in Studio Art and am now pursuing a career in the arts. River’s presence, discernment, intentionality, and compassion instilled in me the importance of developing a studio practice that embraces wonder, curiosity, critique, risk taking, and intuition.
“Some of my favorite memories of River include reading poetry aloud in the dark before the start of each class, and going on field trips in the arboretum to observe and photograph the tracks and traces left by creatures such as field mice, owls, and foxes.”