Kyle Fokken

Kyle was born in the small farming town of Clara City, Minnesota, a town with little to do but entertain yourself with your imagination. After graduation, he went on to become the first person in his family to go to college. He graduated with honors in 1991 with a BFA in ceramics from Minnesota State University at St. Cloud State. Kyle was twice elected to the Fine Arts Chair of the University Program Board where he recruited and managed a team of student volunteers to curate and maintain the student union gallery and display cases.
After graduation, he worked as a potter’s apprentice, interned with the Minnesota Museum of Art and served on the Minnesota Crafts Council. He then took a job as a fundraising manager with ArtsMarketing Services -- a company that aids arts and non-profits -- in Toronto, Canada. After moving back to Minnesota and taking a job in the mortgage industry, he kept active by volunteering with North East Minneapolis Arts Association and the Soap Factory.
After working for over a decade in the mortgage industry, he left it for another decade to work as a full-time sculptor with the support of his wife, Heather, and two great kids. Kyle has shown his work in multiple museums and art centers throughout the United States. He’s exhibited for ART MIAMI in Miami Beach and in galleries in New York City, Boston, Chicago and Denver. Kyle has won multiple first place and Best in Show awards for his indoor and outdoor sculptures throughout the Midwest, including a Best in Show Overall and three Best in Show awards for Sioux Falls Sculpture Walk and its partner network, Sculpture Walks. The South Dakota Art Museum in Brookings, SD has recently exhibited his work and purchased a piece for its permanent collection. He has received a Minnesota State Arts Board Grant to study new materials for use in outdoor sculpture. He is also a featured artist interviewed in Twin Cities Public Television's Minnesota Originals program.