OFFICIAL PORTRAIT OF FORMER GOV. JESSE VENTURA IS UNVEILED

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.

Click here for a TIFF image of the portrait of former Gov. Jesse Ventura at 1029 x 1324 pixels at 300 dpi.

The Minnesota Historical Society is a non-profit educational and cultural institution established in 1849 to preserve and share Minnesota history. The Society collects, preserves and tells the story of Minnesota’s past through museum exhibits, extensive libraries and collections, historic sites, educational programs and book publishing.

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