Download a photo of Dustin Young.
Download a photo of Max Grabow.
Download a photo of the Andria Theatre.
GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Pioneer PBS’s Postcards program will feature artists Dustin Young from Wheaton/Dumont, Max Grabow from Granite Falls and Alexandria’s Andria Theatre. The program will air on Thursday, April 2 at 7 p.m., on Sunday, April 5 at 7 p.m. and on Monday, April 6 at 1:30 p.m. The stories will also be available for online viewing through the station’s website: www.pioneer.org/postcards.
After being raised in Dumont, Dustin Young went on to study drawing and painting at Minnesota State University in Moorhead, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has received numerous awards and accolades including the prestigious two-year artist residency at RedLine Contemporary Art Center in Denver. Young and his family reside in western North Dakota where he continues his art practice. “I think one of the biggest things that growing up in this area taught me is my work ethic,” Young said.
Max Grabow has a passion for making dioramas. By day he works as a videographer for Pioneer PBS, but during nights and weekends, he turns his attention to creating birds-eye view, model-scale scenes from history, such as WWI trenches, damaged warbirds complete with billowing smoke, and soldiers storming the beaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima. Grabow draws inspiration from his WWII veteran grandpa and the nearby historical resource of Fagen Fighters WWII Museum. “It was truly the greatest generation,” Grabow said. “What these guys went through was crazy and very heroic. So, I feel like I kind of owe it to them by making these dioramas.”
The Andria Theatre is west central Minnesota’s foremost live theatre and performing arts center and home to Alexandria Area Arts Association. The seasonal venue includes five high quality stage performances for families and adults, live comedy, improvisational theatre and its Student Theatre Project. The Postcards crew interviewed Andria's artistic director David Chirstman along with executive director Ann Hermes as the theatre made preparations for the Student Theatre’s production of “The Lion King Junior” featuring puppetry designed under the direction of Matt McGee from Washington, D.C.
One of Hermes favorite stories as executive director was when one of the camp counselors overheard a little boy whose mom was coming to pick him up say excitedly, "See, Mom, now I have friends. Now I belong."
“That is very powerful,” Hermes added. “If there's one reason we are doing this, it is to hear the youth say, ‘I have a home.’"
About Postcards
Postcards is produced by Dana Conroy with videography and editing by Kristofor Gieske and Ben Dempcy. The program is made possible by contributions from the voters of Minnesota through a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Production sponsors for the program include Shalom Hill Farm, Explore Alexandria Tourism and the Lake Region Arts Council.
About Pioneer PBS
Established in 1966, Pioneer PBS is an award-winning, viewer-supported television station dedicated to sharing local stories of the region with the world. For more information visit: www.pioneer.org.
