August 2004

Photography of

Judy M. Nelson

Judy Nelson is a full-time instructor at Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids, MN, and an adjunct instructor at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN.  She teaches communication classes, interpersonal and intercultural communication, and conducts seminars on a variety of subjects within the Minnesota college system.  Judy received an A.A. from Itasca Community College, a B.A. from the College of St. Scholastica, an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Superior, and a Ph.D from Capella University.   Judy's family lives in Fargo (daughter Angie and her husband Kirk, grand-girls Jessica and Emily) and Owatonna (son Cordell and wife Nicki, grandchildren Isabella and Liam).  Judy is an avid traveler and outdoors woman and has visited every state and every Canadian province.

Artist's Statement

Influenced by the dramatic sweep of the horizon in North Dakota, where I grew up, I have been captivated by the play of light and shadow, the dramatic horizontal and vertical lines of grain elevators against western sunsets, and the honesty of emotion in the faces of people.  My earliest memories are of wanting to travel as a journalist, documenting my experiences with pen and lens, attempting to stop time with an image or enhance memory with words.  At this stage in my life I have been lucky enough to pursue those passions, and brave enough - or old enough - to go public.

My two visits to Cuba have been transformational experiences:  I love the Cuban people, the music, the smell of the sea, the beauty of the mountains.  In Cuba I feel as if I have found home.  When I review my photographs I regain that feeling, remember the smells, the conversations, the emotional tension of a Communist country just 90 miles away from the United States mainland.  In some small way I hope to increase our understanding of this "forbidden" island by introducing the audience to Cuba without a political agenda; instead with a sense of compassion for the beautiful people of this exquisite island.  I believe, as many Cubans have told me during emotional discussions of the political situation between the U.S. and Cuba, "You and me, we are the same in our hearts."