The EFEIT Signage Project: collaboration of interpretation and design

The Elizabeth Fries Ellet Interpretive Trail (EFEIT) at the Richard T. Anderson Conservation Area in Eden Prairie was a collaborative project with Kestrel Design for on-site explorations of the conservation area, analysis, images of plants and landscapes for a database and development of the Interpretive sign template. Writers Rising Up gathered historical and botanical images over a four year period from museums, libraries and university collections all over the nation to interprete Ellet’s trip to our area and the six biomes within the RTA.

The trail includes seven permanent outdoor educational signs based on Elizabeth Ellet’s visit to Minnesota in 1852, her descriptions of the landscape, visual depictions of flora and fauna, the land and its people, including the work of other well known artists, writers and botanists who came to explore the Minnesota Territory in the mid 1800’s.

Read more about Collaboration of Interpretation and Design

Shelley Getten, bird artist for EFEIT posters and trail guide

Shelley Getten has been published in numerous anthologies and magazines throughout the years. Her poetry chapbook, Agates, was recently published by Fnishing Line Press. Shelley has begun to create linoleum block prints, and found that the technique lends itself to the creation of feathers. Most of her work to date, consists of birds found in Minnesota, many are featured on the Elizabeth Fries Ellet Interpretive Trail posters and collateral. Her next gallery show will be on Sept. 7, 2007 at The Good Life in Wayzata, after which her work will be available at Your Arts Desire in Minnetonka. Shelley lives in Deephaven with husband, Brien and children – Devin (15) and Brighid (12).

Allen Blake Sheldon

Recently honored with a Minnesota Book Award Nomination for his photography, Allen Blake Sheldon, called Blake by family and old Minnesota friends, lives in Trempealeau, Wisconsin, where he roams the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge, Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge, and Perrot State Park. His enjoyment of amphibians and reptiles began early, with herpetology becoming a major interest during eighth grade. He received a BA in biology from Winona State University, studied Spotted Turtles in Maryland, and taught high school biology. He has been seriously photographing amphibians, reptiles, and other wildlife for over twenty five years, mostly in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but also in North Carolina, Florida, the Southwest, and Belize.

Read more about Allen Blake Sheldon, Photographer