Anna Johnson Named Billboard Competition Winner

The NDSU Visual Arts Department has chosen Anna Johnson as their Billboard Competition winner. Her artwork titled “Changes” can be seen on a billboard on NP Avenue across from Renaissance Hall through February 2010. Johnson, who grew up in Belcourt, N.D., is currently a senior attending NDSU for visual arts. A reception will be held at the end of January. The Billboard Competition is held each semester for NDSU visual art students to submit artwork to be displayed on the billboard across from Renaissance Hall. Reminiscent of her Native American heritage, Johnson uses her artistic skills to bring together culture that she lives in with culture that she comes from. “My art is the only way I can express what I feel when I experience discrimination or when something moves me to make a difference about social injustice, religion and spirituality and other issues that Native Americans, women, lesbians and people everywhere face on a daily basis,” Johnson said. The original piece “Changes,” along with a companion piece of Johnson’s have been installed in the Memorial Union near the Office of International Programs. To learn more, call Esther Hockett at (701) 231-8239.