In recent work, Meg Ojala combines large-scale landscape photographs, drawings, and text to imbue her subjects, such as a river or a bog, with a sense of agency. She employs ambiguous spatial illusions, disorienting points of view, and a bewildering sense of scale to shift the perception of the viewer and to elicit empathy for the natural world. Ojala, professor emerita of Art and Art History, St. Olaf College, received her BA from the University of Minnesota and her MFA from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. She is a recipient of a 2020 McKnight Visual Artist Fellowship, McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowships for Photographers, Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grants, and a grant from the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council. Ojala has exhibited nationally and internationally. She lives in Dundas, Minnesota.

Supported by Artist Communities Alliance’s (ACA) McKnight Artist Residencies Consortium. This partnership between ACA and the McKnight Foundation supports selected residency program partners in developing fair and just policies and provides McKnight Artist Fellows with residency opportunities at these partner programs. This consortium aims to support the development of residency environments where any artist can thrive. Read more HERE.