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The Minnesota Historical Society has received into its collections
the official portrait of former Gov. Jesse Ventura. The portrait
was unveiled to the public in the Minnesota State Capitol Rotunda
on Nov. 13. The framed portrait will be hung in a Capitol corridor,
taking its place with those of 37 previous governors. The Society
has responsibility for the art and historic features of the Capitol
and offers an ongoing tour program to showcase the building and
its continuing role in Minnesota history.
The unveiling was hosted by Gov. Ventura’s
wife, Terry Ventura. Offering brief remarks were Society Director
Nina Archabal; John Wodele, director of communications in the
Ventura administration; artist Stephen Cepello; and Gov. Ventura.
The artist:
Stephen Cepello painted the official portrait
of Gov. Ventura. A native of Arizona, he divides his time between
Los Angeles and a studio in the California mountains. Cepello
began painting as a child and has studied at the Kachina School
ofArt in Phoenix under the late Jay Datus, Arizona’s internationally
acclaimed muralist. His vivid body of work, including images of
the Old West that have been compared to the work of Charles Russell,
can be found in major collections across the country. He also
specializes in seascapes and marine mammals and is actively engaged
in aquatic life preservation.
Cepello, a bodybuilder and surfer as well as
a professional wrestler, has been a friend of Jesse Ventura’s
for more than two decades. “What makes this portrait especially
successful is the fact that the artist and sitter are old friends,”
says the Society’s curator of art, Brian Szott. “This
25-year-friendship enabled Cepello to capture aspects of Gov.
Ventura’s identity that an artist unfamiliar with the governor
would find extremely elusive.”
Cepello calls the opportunity to paint the portrait
“a career artist’s dream.” He says he strove
to incorporate into the portrait aspects of his friend’s
life that he has observed over the years of their friendship for
future generations to discover. “The trust that Gov. Ventura,
his family and Brian Szott placed in me assured a standard of
excellence brought to fruition in countless hours of loving toil.”
The painting:
Gov. Ventura is pictured standing proudly over
a landscape filled with symbols of Minnesota and important aspects
of his life and career. A dark sky highlights his strong, determined
face. He is dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and red-white-and-blue
tie. On his lapel are a Navy Seal team pin and Navy jump wings,
and in his hand is one of the fine cigars he relishes, this time
clearly lit as was not always the case as he went about the State
Capitol during his years as governor.
Blended into the landscape behind him are images
of an undeveloped, wild Minnesota to his left, and to his right
the Capitol building, the Minneapolis skyline, a bridge spanning
the Mississippi River, a lush Minnesota golf course and a light-rail
train. The governor’s right hand rests on a figure representing
“The Thinker,” an image used in his campaign for office
that contrasted his reputation as “Jesse, the Body,”
with “Jesse, the Thinker.”
The portrait will hang on the ground floor of
the Capitol near that of Gov. Ventura’s predecessor, Arne
Carlson.
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