ARTIST STATEMENT:I use plein air painting to cultivate my sense of wonder and to develop a deeper connection with the Midwestern landscapes and the communities that I call home. My goal for each painting is to capture a unique view that might otherwise go unappreciated, and in doing so, to expand on how and where we expect to engage with our sense of wonder. At the core of this is my belief that beauty and wonder are universal experiences that exist in all spaces, which we can access through curiosity and intentional observation. As a working class artist based in the Midwest, I want my work to uplift public spaces and speak to the lives of everyday people. To paint something is to declare that it has value, and through this work I give reverence to humble and accessible moments of beauty found in communities throughout the Midwest. BIO: Thomas Moberg is a painter and jewelry designer creating work that explores the intersection of politics and the environment in the American Midwest. He received his BFA in 2D visual art from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point in 2018, where he focused on figure painting and portraiture. Shortly after graduating, Thomas returned home to care for his terminally ill father, and began plein air painting along the country roads of Wisconsin as a way to process his experience.After his father’s passing in 2019, Thomas went on to apprentice as a metalsmith at his family’s jewelry business, The Northwoods Goldsmith. Thomas has gone on to exhibit his paintings and jewelry nationally across America, and has been an artist-in-residence with Rising Sands Organics in Custer, WI; the Heist in Ripon, WI; and Everwood Farmstead, in Glenwood, WI. In this last year, Thomas was a guest lecturer for the University of Iowa Jewelry and Metals Department and was invited to compete in Paint Grand Traverse for his second consecutive year.