Hope Joyce Atkinson

Hope was born December 10, 1946 in Duluth, Minnesota. She has become known as a quintessential “outsider” artist during the last twenty years since her rare works of art were discovered. She grew up in foster homes from the age of four, when her mother left the family. At sixteen, Hope was anxious to leave the foster home system and looked for any way to achieve independence. She discovered it just as Affirmative Action began.

Hope joined the Merchant Marines and worked on the ore boats on the Great Lakes for many years, becoming one of the first women ever to achieve this. Hope eventually left the Marines and got her own small fish tug which she began restoring into a houseboat. Unfortunately she had a horrible accident while out sailing on her boat and was lucky to have guided herself to shore, narrowly surviving the incident. During the months of hospitalization that followed, she received a papier mache gift which inspired her to create her own characters from that medium.

After leaving the hospital, a spartan tile barn from the 1800s without benefit of running water became her home, near the shore of Lake Superior. Hope grew reclusive and began to create “toys” and masks from papier mache and found objects. She used techniques she remembered using to create her own toys when she was young. Some works used commodity food cans, chinese carry out boxes and other found objects as part of the base of the creation. When visitors came to see Hope, these clever objects of hers became topics of conversation, which encouraged her to make others. Hope’s “toys” and “friends” formed fascinating interactive groupings that told stories and embraced spiritual narratives. She played with her creations and wore the masks. These filled her reclusive life and her amazing barn with lively activity. At times, she sewed tiny detailed clothing for her “friends” and spent countless hours perfecting each piece.

Her colorful work revolves around spiritual and political themes mixed with a wry sense of humor and a strong social awareness. Her messages are heartfelt and often have a unique viewpoint which is expressed with frankness and rare intellectual wit. Many of her works are autobiographical in nature and are combined into elaborate groupings inspired by various life experiences, reflections on the state of mankind and of human nature. More recently, she has attended showings of her work in New York and attended artists’ colonies. In 2006, she became the permanent winter artist-in-residence at an artists’ shelter in south Alabama, which she inspired. She returned to her Wisconsin barn during occasional summers for a cool respite from the southern heat. She is an active participant in spiritual study groups. Summers in Wisconsin involve her garden of wild flowers; now complete with a lovely flowing well. Hope’s art is in a number of prestigious collections coast to coast and abroad.