Artist Bio

Contemporary Native American artist Kent Estey is an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation of Ojibwe in Northwestern Minnesota. Kent’s lineage includes many self-taught artists where black-ash basketry, beading, birch-bark, and fiber artistry were everyday occurrences in his home. Kent’s preferred art form is painting with oils, acrylics, and inks.

Most often, his paintings are about land, sky, and water. His bold and bright colors reflect his feelings and emotions as he captures the beauty of his surroundings.

“I paint what I see every day,” says Kent. “It’s all I know and what I know best, so my paintings are about this piece of land, this sky, the colors and feelings as I walk through my gardens.”

Kent’s work has been exhibited in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Bemidji, Grand Rapids, Wahpeton, North Dakota, Duluth, and other regional exhibitions and galleries in Minnesota. Kent was recently awarded the Region 2 Arts Council Artist Fellowship for 2023-2024. Kent has been an educator for most of his life, living and working in Naytahwaush, Minnesota.