Photography & Art at the Rock: Jane Dierberger

Photography & Art at the Rock: Jane Dierberger

Photography & Art at the Rock is a monthly exhibit at Split Rock Lighthouse highlighting local artists and photographers whose work celebrates the natural beauty of Minnesota’s North Shore—and beyond.

For the month of April, we are proud to feature Jane Dierberger, whose exhibit By the Shining Big-Sea-Water presents a collection of paintings inspired by Lake Superior and other northern places.

Most of the works in this exhibit draw from Minnesota’s North Shore and were painted over the course of several years. The centerpiece of the show is Last Light at Split Rock, a moody, night-time scene reminiscent of Edward Hopper. The lighthouse stands against the final light of day, foghorns glowing as the sun slips below the horizon. A quiet human presence appears in a lower window—perhaps a keeper stealing a moment before a long night—while a freighter passes silently in the distance.

Jane Dierberger grew up in the Adirondacks, surrounded by lakes and forests that shaped her early connection to nature and art. After moving to Minnesota, she found that same sense of wild beauty along the St. Croix River and the many lakes of the state, feeling immediately at home. Deeply inspired by the natural world, Jane creates narrative landscapes that often include a quiet human presence, reflecting her belief that nature represents truth, timelessness, and harmony.

The exhibit also marks the reintroduction of Jane’s Song of Hiawatha series, originally completed in 2008 in honor of the Minnesota Sesquicentennial. Inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, these four paintings reflect scenes from Minnesota’s landscape and explore the deep relationship between people and the natural world—from Gitche Gumee to Minnehaha Falls, Sugarloaf Mountain, and the Birch Bark Canoe.

Together, these paintings serve as a love letter to the North Shore—honoring both those who first inhabited it and those who call it home today.

Jane Dierberger will be onsite to share more about her work on the following dates:

• Saturday, April 25 | 10 am–4 pm