Michelle Westmark Wingard

Michelle Westmark Wingard serves as Professor of Art and Gallery Director at Bethel University's College of Arts and Sciences, overseeing The Johnson Gallery and The Olson Gallery since joining the institution in 2008. Her role integrates academic leadership with curatorial innovation across Bethel's visual arts programming.

Her educational foundation includes:

• M.F.A. in Photography from Pratt Institute (2006)
• Post Baccalaureate in Photography from Bethel University (2003)
• B.A. in Studio Art with Art History minor from Bethel University (2000)

Wingard's creative practice centers on installation-based photography with specialized expertise in cyanotype techniques, exploring memory, grief, perception, and interconnection through experiential projects. Her work often manifests as participatory installations examining personal and collective histories, such as the Belgium/Minnesota series investigating her grandfather's WWII plane crash site and The Afterlife of Objects and Places documenting memorial landscapes. She conceptualizes all artistic output as 'gestures of care,' blending technical mastery with emotional resonance.

Recent creative output demonstrates deepening exploration of cyanotype on fabric and paper, incorporating natural elements like window frost, coastal horizons, and textile manipulation to investigate transformation and memory. Her work consistently engages with material meaning, belonging, and systemic reordering through horizon lines, light/shadow interplay, and collaborative processes.

Notable recognition includes:

• Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grants (2017, 2019)
• Jerome Travel Grant (2015)
• Wellspring Scholarship (2021)
• Best of Twin Cities Fine Arts Award for Most Memorable Exhibition (2011)

As Gallery Director, Wingard has curated over 100 exhibitions while mentoring emerging curators through the Emerging Curators Institute. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes community engagement through cyanotype workshops and collaborative projects like We Will Build Ladders, which responds to political tensions through artistic kindness. She maintains active studio practice while directing Bethel's exhibition spaces and developing community-based initiatives.

Wingard's collaborative spirit manifests in international projects like From My Side of the World with South African artist Magdel van Rooyen and participatory works including The Telephone Booth and Postcards to the Future, creating dialogic spaces that bridge geographical and cultural divides through visual conversation.