At 91, artist Catherine Esmond Mulligan celebrates ‘affirming’ homecoming exhibit at Rourke – InForum

MOORHEAD — A few years ago Reba Mathern-Jacobson was talking to her old art teacher, Catherine Esmond Mulliagan on the phone.

Mathern-Jacobson was asked if she knew of anyone driving to Boulder, Colorado, who could bring the artist clay from the St. John’s Pottery, part of St. John’s University in Collegville, Minnesota.

Mathern-Jacobson took this as an opportunity to drive from Fargo to see her teacher friend. When she arrived and saw the artist’s home studio, she better understood the need for clay.

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For years, Mulligan had been sculpting clay into female figures, mainly heads. The artist had dozens and dozens of pieces that had only been seen by those that helped fire the ceramic work at St. John’s and anyone that visited her studio.

“I thought the world can benefit from seeing this work and this work needs to be seen,” Mathern-Johnson recalled. “My goal was to bring Catherine back home to Fargo-Moorhead.”

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When she got back to Fargo, she contacted Jonathan Rutter, executive director and curator at the Rourke Art Gallery + Museum to line up a show.

That exhibit, “Earth Pattern,” opened in late May and runs through Aug. 10. It is the first solo show of Esmond Mulligan’s in the area since she moved from Fargo to Boulder in 1995. The artist, now 91, flew back for the opening weekend festivities.

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“My hope was for Catherine to be recognized as a significant artist and a community leader then and all of the incredible work she’s created since,” Mathern-Jacobson said.

“Earth Pattern” focuses on the newer stoneware pieces from the woodfire kiln at St. John’s, called Seed Pod Portrait Heads, clay busts emerging from the top of hand-shaped orbs. At the opening reception, Mulligan noted that with her eyesight failing, creating pieces with her hands remains a way to keep producing art.

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The show also features older prints and reliquaries — assemblages she made from sardine tins, used stamps, newspaper clippings and images, keys, eggs and other found objects. There are also her stoneware Venus figurines she started creating in Fargo, seated women with their hands framing pregnant bellies. A selection of older pieces from private collections as well as from The Rourke, The Plains Art Museum and North Dakota State University is also included.

Esmond Mulligan was raised in Indiana but became a force on the local art scene from the mid-1970s when she was earning her master’s degree in art from Minnesota State University Moorhead until she moved away in 1995.

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She first made her mark with colorful cast resin sculptures, winning a purchase award from the Rourke in 1975 for her piece, “Heritage: Waterbox.” The piece is a plexiglass chest that holds seven multi-colored discs leaning in succession and has been on display at the Rourke since.

“The FM arts scene was vibrant, student-oriented and collaborative,” Esmond Mulligan said. “It was a time and space where we all could grow. The community was inclusive and celebrated diversity. We were not competitive, and we embraced all the arts in the area … We were so fortunate to have visionaries like Vince Lindstrom and Jim O’Rourke fostering artistic growth in the area.”

Contributed / Plains Art Museum

Lindstrom, for a period, led the Fargo-Moorhead Convention and Visitors Bureau and called himself, “the hustler for the arts,” advocating for the Creative Arts Studio and Trollwood Performing Arts School. He died in 2020.

O’Rourke and his brother Orland Rourke founded the Rourke Art Gallery, and he would later serve as the director for the Plains Art Museum. He died in 2011.

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“Jim was my champion, even when we disagreed, which was a fair amount, but never on the big stuff,” Esmond Mulligan said. “We respected each other so much, and we championed access to the arts for all people. Jim really was an amazing individual that did so much for me and the area’s other artists. The Rourke was an institution that fostered the arts. I cannot imagine what the area would have been like without it.”

In the 1980s she was also known for her colorful cast resin sculptures that were formed from Mrs. Butterworth syrup bottles. Later, eggs and maternal figurines became significant motifs in her work.

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During her time in Fargo, she taught art at Fargo North High School and North Dakota State University, but had perhaps the biggest impact as the coordinator for the Creative Arts Program. The latter was a Fargo Public Schools project that allowed high school students access to the Creative Arts Studio, then in the basement of Clara Barton Elementary. There, students not only had access to printmaking, photography, painting, ceramic and sculptural tools and facilities, but Esmond Mulligan also organized guest artists to give talks and demonstrations.

She worked alongside students, offering praise and critiques equally and gained a reputation for treating high school students as adults and peers. The program produced a number of artists and educators, including Jon Offutt and Ann Braaten.

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That’s where Mathern-Jacobson met her.

“I was attracted and encouraged by her freedom of movement and expression and how she just moved through life,” the former student recalled. “She was different from anyone I ever met before.”

Mathern-Jacobson worked as “instigator and co-curator,” collaborating with The Rourke and the artist’s son, Shawn Mulligan, to select, catalog and even transport the pieces from Boulder to Moorhead over the course of many trips.

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Mathern-Jacobson’s daughter, Mila, also helped catalog pieces and build a website for the artist.

“Having Reba and Mila help put together the show was heartwarming,” Esmond Mulligan said. “Reba’s and Mila’s collaboration reflected the enduring creative spirit and mentoring aspects of Creative Arts Project, so it felt like coming full circle.”

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At the opening, Mathern-Jacobson was able to stand back and see that her years spent working on the show wasn’t just a matter of putting an exhibit together, but also reconnecting her teacher with friends and supporters in the community. The event packed the Rourke and was one of the biggest openings in recent years.

“My joy was seeing all of the reunions, people who hadn’t seen her for decades,” she said. “It was clear that Catherine is an adored and highly regarded leader and artist from our region.”

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“Being at the opening was so affirming,” Esmond Mulligan said. “The Rourke was filled with familiar faces, people who are and have been so impactful on my growth as a person and an artist. I was struck by how happy I was to be there. The opening was a beautiful reminder of our connection and the creative spirit that defines the FM artists’ community.”