Vance Gellert: "Iron Country"

The Tweed Museum of Art presents "Iron Country," an exhibition about the people and ever-changing environment of the Minnesota Iron Range as seen through the lens of photographer Vance Gellert. It runs through Sept 4. A St. Paul native and pharmacologist, he has been photographing people and landscapes since the 1970s. Gellert's interest in the Iron Range started with a project in 2003 in Grand Rapids. In 2011, he returned to research, interview and photograph this evolving environment. The photographs in Coleraine, Eveleth, Hibbing, Virginia and other places range from studies of technology, landscapes and structures to the personalities and culture that emerged from this region. His study encompasses the Ojibwa people who named their region "Mesabi" (meaning "sleeping giant"), the massive mining industry and the immigrant peoples from 43 nations who came to live and work here since the first shipment of ore left the Lake Vermilion area in 1884. For more details, call 218-726-8222, or visit www.d.umn.edu/tma. Hours vary at the Tweed Museum.