Marguerite Hogan

Willow Wood’s Artist-in-Residence

When you walk into Marguerite Hogan’s home at Ecumen’s Willow Wood independent living residence in White Bear Lake, the first thing you notice are the stunning paintings adorning her walls. Her art, most of which was created by her very hands, makes her home uniquely hers.

Marguerite, who paints four hours daily, creates more than 200 works of art each year. Her artwork inspires, but so does the fact that she didn’t begin painting seriously until she was in her 70s. Specializing in watercolors, which she calls "demanding and surprising," 90-year-old Marguerite enjoys landscape painting the most. That enjoyment likely comes from the picturesque environs that surrounded her in Northern Minnesota. Marguerite was born in Blackduck, Minn. and lived in scenic Ely for more than 40 years. She and her husband raised two daughters who also paint.

Marguerite, who studied under artists such as Gerald Korte, began an Ely art class, which she taught for 16 years at the Ely Senior Center. She also co-founded Ely’s Art in the Park, a festival that grew into the famed Ely Blueberry Festival and which today draws nearly 40,000 people annually. On Marguerite’s 80^th birthday, the City of Ely celebrated her at a local gallery and declared it "Marguerite Hogan Day." The walls were filled with her paintings that community members had purchased over the years.

Although Marguerite has exhibited and sold her paintings in a number of art shows, attention and dollars aren’t her motivation. "I paint for the love of it . . . the joy of it . . . it’s relaxing and fulfilling," she says.

Marguerite shares her talents, encouragement and experiences with aspiring artists of all ages. In fact, she recently spoke to young artists at White Bear Lake High School and she also mentors a very special art student – her 7-year-old grandson. Marguerite frequently talks about the joy she receives from painting; however, it’s clear that she also contributes a great deal of joy in the process. Thank you, Marguerite.