MINOT, N.D. – The Northwest Arts Center presents “Umbrae” a solo exhibition by Mississippi artist and INT’L All Media 2024 Best of Show recipient Jacob Crook, on view in the Northwest Arts Center’s Walter Piehl Gallery from Oct. 23 until Dec. 20.
Crook’s exhibition consists of 20 mezzotint prints depicting landscape and interior settings that imply moody narratives and display the ways in which light transforms ordinary locations into otherworldly environments. His prints examine how light spills into a nocturnal space, illuminating details while establishing contrasting highlights and shadows. Crook creates scenes of quiet urban streets, intimate interiors, and abandoned commercial areas that invite peaceful contemplation and interpolation from the viewer.
“My intent is not to tell a story directly, but to set the stage in such a way that viewers are compelled to consider the moments before and after the one presented based on their own associations with the imagery,” Crook states.
Crook works primarily in the reductive engraving technique of mezzotint printmaking and is also trained as an observational oil painter and draftsman. He completed his MFA degree in printmaking from Syracuse University in 2014 and received a BFA with emphasis in painting from the University of Missouri, Columbia in 2009. Crook currently works as an assistant professor of art and printmaking coordinator in the Department of Art at Mississippi State University.
Mezzotint is a seventeenth-century printmaking technique celebrated for its deep tonal richness, in which an image gradually emerges from darkness into light. The artist repeatedly rocks a toothed metal tool across a copper plate to create a velvety, ink-holding surface, then uses scrapers and burnishers to smooth selected areas to not hold ink. This burnishing brings out the lighter values. Once the plate is prepared, it is inked and printed onto dampened paper using an intaglio press.
Crook’s visit to Minot State University is co-sponsored by Flat Tail Press. An educational printmaking studio, Flat Tail Press brings students and artists together to make limited edition prints. Providing an opportunity for students to work with professional artists through hands-on printmaking, these sessions can also be observed by visitors to the campus. Crook will be printing in the Hartnett Hall Printmaking Studio, room 243, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (Nov. 19-21).
A public reception with an artist talk is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 20 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Both the exhibition and the reception are free and open to the public. Artist talk is set to begin at 7 p.m. While on campus, Crook will present in the Art Seminar series to students and the public at Minot State University's Hartnett Hall, Room 106 on Friday, Nov. 21 at 12 p.m. Art Seminar presentations offer students and the public the opportunity to learn about the work, lives, and experiences of guest artists and arts professionals visiting Minot State University.
The exhibition is available for viewing Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 1-5 p.m. The Walter Piehl Gallery is located on the lower level of the Gordon B. Olson Library at Minot State University, with its own entrance on the south side of the library. The gallery is closed on holidays. The exhibition and related events are free and open to the public.
The Northwest Arts Center is supported in part by a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.
About Minot State University
Minot State University is a public university dedicated to excellence in education, scholarship, and community engagement achieved through
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Published: 11/19/25
