Drawing inspiration from nature, Megan Moore’s artwork is simple, calming and beautiful. Starting with a wood canvas and oil paints, Moore paints scenes of birds perched on treetops and the changing of the seasons.
Moore is one of many artists featured in this year’s League of Longfellow Artists Art Crawl. In 2002, she moved to Minneapolis from Alabama to be with her now-husband, who was attending school in the area. She’s displayed art throughout Minneapolis since.
Started in 2008, LoLa of the Longfellow neighborhood in south Minneapolis, established an annual art crawl. The crawl grew into 120 artists spread across about 60 sites. Moore’s art was first featured in the crawl during its second year.
“This is my sixth year. I actually moved into the neighborhood the same weekend as the art crawl its first year,” Moore said, “I saw that it was going on and was like, ‘Next year I will be there.’ ”
Any artist who lives or works in the Longfellow neighborhood is eligible for the event.
“We have really well-established, professional, full-time artists, some really well-known people in Minneapolis, even Minnesota,” David Holliday, LoLa volunteer and LoLa steering committee member, said. “We also have a lot of new and emerging artists, people that wouldn’t even call themselves artists that make stuff.”
The crawl snakes through the Longfellow neighborhood, and some artists present work in their homes.
“LoLa is very neighborhood-centric,” Holliday said. “We really want to have a community of artists within our neighborhood to share ideas, share resources, share creativity — both amongst each other but also with neighbors and the greater Twin Cities area.”
Moore’s work will be showcased in her home this weekend at the LoLa art crawl.
“For a long time, we didn’t think we’d be here permanently,” Moore said, “but it really is a great place to be. I think it’s a very supportive
community.”
Since her move here, Moore’s artistic career flourished. She started by doing art fairs in the area. Eventually, she was able to become a full-time, self-employed artist and
graphic designer in 2013.
“Growing up, I did not know anybody who was a professional artist; the closest thing was art teachers at school. I feel lucky that I ended up in this spot,” Moore said.
Along with her solo accomplishments, Moore collaborates with her close friend, Hadley Barrows, for artistic endeavors as well.
“It’s not easy to find someone that you can work with,” Barrows said, “I was a little nervous when we started out because she is my best friend, and I didn’t want to mess that up.”
The two published a children’s book in 2014 titled “Antler, A: A Cabin ABC Book.”
“The thing about working with her that I absolutely love is [that] she has all this expertise as an illustrator and an artist, but she also listens to what you’re saying,” Barrows said.
When describing Moore’s art, Barrows used three words: “simple,” “accessible” and “nature.”
“Her art, I think, is so beautiful and, like I said, accessible,” Barrows said. “People just are kind of drawn to it because it’s easy for them to understand why it’s pretty.”
The crawl is growing annually as more artists get involved. It is not a juried competition, and all neighborhood artists are encouraged to apply.
“It is the only event that I do at my home,” said Moore. “It’s not at a studio or some other location.”
