Grete Bodøgaard
Grete Bodøgaard (1946-2014) was a renowned Norwegian textile artist and longtime South Dakota resident. Bodøgaard immigrated to Vermillion, South Dakota, in 1969, and lived there and in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Volin, South Dakota, was her home at the time of her passing in 2014.
The South Dakota Art Museum has two weavings by this noted South Dakota artist. "Missouri River Morel," represents a close-up view of a morel mushroom in situ, tucked behind leaves in its natural wooded environment. The composition, subject matter and rich greens and browns of this weaving speaks to Bodøgaard's time living in the woodlands ecology of Southeastern South Dakota.
Badlands speaks to Bodøgaard’s time living in the western part of the state. Representing Badlands landforms and geology through the regional color and depiction of soil strata, this 1986 work was acquired by the museum in December 2019. It was a gift of friends in honor of Lynn Verschoor, South Dakota Art Museum Director, 1999-2019 (herself a weaver and friend of Bodøgaard) and of Katherine Heikes, Eirik Heikes and Sunni Heikes-Knapton in memory of Grete Bodøgaard.
