Annie Hejny is a Minneapolis-based visual artist and environmental activist. She has exhibited nationally including at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Minnesota Museum of American Art, Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, and DeVos Art Museum, and Sioux City Art Center. Hejny has been awarded notable grants and artist residencies, and her artwork is held in private collections in 30 states and internationally. Collections include: Mayo Clinic, Minnesota Vikings, Target Corporation, University of Minnesota Physicians Clinics, University of St. Thomas, and others. As a certified Minnesota Water Steward and Nature & Forest Therapy Guide, her artwork reflects our human connection with the earth through an emphasis on freshwater. Hejny is represented by Veronique Wantz Gallery (Minneapolis).
Exhibition Title and Summary:
Salt of a Lost Winter
A solo exhibition of new artwork that considers freshwater protection during the changing winter season.
Exhibition Statement:
Do you remember the heat waves of 65°F in February 2024? Did you notice the dry, exposed lawns that stretched barren for months? Perhaps you watched the weekly drought monitor shift from white to shades of yellow, orange and red? One year ago, residents of Minneapolis were living through “The Lost Winter of 2023-24” — a season that felt and looked very different from our usual snowy northern landscape. Yet with only 21 days of snow cover, the application of excessive road salts (chloride deicer) persisted.
As early as 1941, the use of chloride deicer on streets and sidewalks began in the United States and is now a social norm for winter maintenance practices. However, this deicer often applied disproportionately, is highly toxic to our environment as it corrodes infrastructure, affects safe drinking water, and harms aquatic life in freshwater ecosystems where it inevitably flows as stormwater. One teaspoon of chloride deicer permanently pollutes 5 gallons of water.
After a small precipitation event in early March 2024, a Minneapolis business complex covered their parking lot with a thick layer of teal colored deicer. I immediately took notice as it sat unattended for days. With rain in the forecast, I decided to clean it up and prevent unnecessary stormwater pollution in the Mississippi River. For three hours, I swept up 14 parking spaces and removed 13 heavy bags of salt. I was personally unable to clear the entire lot, but after contacting the building owner the salt was successfully removed. This was not my first public sweeping endeavor.
Salt of a Lost Winter examines the impacts of deicer on our local environment through the use of reclaimed excess road salt with fresh indigo leaves, concrete, video, and photography. Our winters are significantly changing due to human-driven climate change, and for me the future health of our waterways is a top priority.
Annie Hejny is a fiscal year 2024 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature; and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.