Download a photo of artist John Sterner.
Download a photo of inventor and electrician Don Husby.
Download a photo of painter Paul Peterson.
GRANITE FALLS, Minn. — Pioneer PBS’s Postcards program will feature stories about artist John Sterner, inventor and electrician Don Husby and painter Paul Peterson. The program will air on Thursday, May 7 at 7 p.m., on Sunday, May 10 at 7 p.m. and on Monday, May 11 at 1:30 p.m. The stories will also be available for online viewing through the station’s website: www.pioneer.org/postcards.
John Sterner teaches K-12 art classes at Lakeview High School in Cottonwood and has served on the faculty at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall. His bronze sculpture of a mustang greets visitors at the entrance of SMSU. Sterner brings his experience from his mother’s Lakota heritage and his father’s German heritage to his work. Born in Flandreau, South Dakota, Sterner says his artwork has become a cultural search for identity and belonging. “When I'm painting, and even when I'm sculpting, I want to capture that moment of action,” he said.
Don Husby grew up in Montevideo and started working when he was 12 at the Hunt Hotel. His incredible journey led to an enlistment in the Navy, school at SDSU and then to a special school founded by George Westinghouse, which brought him to the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Cleveland, Ohio. It was there that Husby made connections and honed his creative engineering skills to design new lighting systems for residential use and major league baseball fields throughout the country.. Over the years, Husby secured more than 25 patents for his lighting inventions and other innovations. He received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
Since early childhood, Paul Peterson has called Minnesota home, after being adopted from Colombia and raised in Shoreview. He studied at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and built his clientele through private shows. His work became known with influential and passionate art buyers. In just 10 years, he has sold more than 800 paintings to 600+ clients across the world. Today he works on five to seven paintings at a time from his studio above a two car garage in St. Anthony Village.
The episode wraps up with Willmar native, 26-year-old Dan Reeb singing an original composition, “Minnesota.”
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
