Art at the Arb
Delano woman’s sculptures featured at flower show
GABE LICHT
Editor
When Donna Rice
contacted Wendy De-
paolis, curator of art
and sculpture at the
Minnesota Landscape
Arboretum, she didn’t
know what to expect.
Deapaolis said she
wanted to meet the
Delano-based crystal
sculptor and see a few
examples of her work.
What came next sur- Donna Rice
prised Rice beyond belief.
“When I left, she said, ‘How would you feel about
exhibiting at the 2020 flower show?’ I just about fell
on the floor,” Rice said. “I wasn’t expecting that.
I floated out of her office and couldn’t believe she
was offering me the show.”
At first, Rice thought she might be featured along
with two or three other artists.
“As the year went on and I started making more
and bigger pieces of work specific to this show, she
left it as a solo show,” Rice said.
She is exhibiting 30 pieces of art at the show,
which began with a preview party Jan. 31 and runs
through March 1. Of those 30 pieces, 10 have al-
ready sold, including the most complicated piece
she has ever made.
“It is very positive encouragement to me that it is
possible to sustain myself,” Rice said.
Her work featured at the Arboretum also encour-
aged others, she learned while there one day.
“A woman was looking at a butterfly piece,” Rice
said. “I made it after my mom had a difficult winter.
She and her husband clearly liked the piece. I said,
‘I’m so glad you’re touched by it.’ She said, ‘My
heart just melts. We’ve had a difficult winter, too.’ .
. . Just to have connected with her for a split minute
is something I’ll never forget.”
She is also forever grateful to everyone at the Ar-
boretum.
“I can only say nice things about the people at the
Arboretum. I’ve enjoyed working with all of them,”
Rice said.
Art has been a part of Rice’s life since she was a
young girl, and nature has always inspired her art.
“Art was always present,” Rice said. “From the
time I was little, I was getting pastels and paper
pads. I didn’t have a dollhouse, so I made it out of
cardboard.”
Art and nature came together while growing up
in the Pittsburgh area.
She specifically remembers taking trips to a par-
ticularly scenic part of Pennsylvania.
“I looked forward to that day every year, just
walking in the woods and finding leaves, frogs,
toads under rocks,” Rice said.
She used that art as inspiration as she took art
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