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His work explores his Ojibwe heritage, his learnings and experiences in nature upon his return to the Grand Portage reservation, while preserving shared oral histories. He shares his experiences with the animals, bird, fish and plant relatives while incorporating the natural landscape of Lake Superior’s North Shore. Sam focuses on continuing the Anishinaabe tradition of storytelling, embedding the themes of environmental stewardship and conservation of the North Shore through his studio and public art commissions. He has completed public art pieces for the Grand Portage Tribal Nation, Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center, Voyageur National Park, the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Minnesota Twins, and the Duluth and Grand Marais communities as a means to celebrate and share Ojibwe culture and language.
He recently was selected, along with 11 other artists and makers, to participate in a statewide pilot program, Minnesota Parks Artists in Residence (MNPAiR). In this 2024-2025 pilot, artists serve as partners to and ambassadors for the parks and contribute not just art, but ideas. This residency—Minnesota’s first statewide artist in residence program—is modeled on artist residencies in government, which embed artists into public systems. Embedding an artist in a park or a park system will allow the selected artists to apply their own creative perspectives and skills to foster a greater sense of belonging. Sam was the artist in residence at Tettegouche State Park in Silver Bay, Minnesota from fall 2024 through fall 2025.
He has been the recipient of grant awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, Northland Foundation Maada’ookiing, and Duluth Superior Community Foundation. His most recent art, bilingual coffee table book, is a collection of paintings and stories from his first year of creating along the northern shore of Lake Superior, Following My Spirit Home, published by Blackbear and Blueberries Publishing (April 2022). Following My Spirit Home was a silver finalist for a Midwest Book Award in June 2023. His newest illustration project is a bilingual Ojibwe/ English children’s book: How the Birds Got Their Songs was published by Minnesota Historical Society Press.
Follow Sam’s studio on Facebook and Instagram @CraneSuperior.
Follow Sam’s studio on Facebook and Instagram @CraneSuperior.
