Peggy Anne Detmers
Peggy is a fourth generation South Dakotan from German, Scot, and Danish heritage on her fathers side, and Dutch and Swedish heritage on her mum’s side. She laughingly calls herself “a European mutt.” Growing up in the South Dakota prairie pothole region where her great-grandparents had come to homestead, she became enthralled with the massive waterfowl migrations and other local wildlife. She obtained a Bachelors of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and another in General Biology, with also adding a Microbiology minor.
Besides loving the natural sciences, she loves to portray nature in several art forms, at first drawings, then paintings, and then sculpture. With the cost of casting works into bronze recently skyrocketing, she is returning to her artistic roots in working in pencils and oils.
Joel Edward Bielstein
Joel Bielstein grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He fell in love with photography in high school while traveling in Japan. He decided to take his hobby more serious in 2017 when he began concentrating on photographing local Black Hills landscapes and wildlife. Within only a few months Joel was picked up by the Jon Crane Gallery of Hill City, SD who sells to regional, national, and international clients. Also in 2017 Joel received the best kudos he could think of when a professional National Geographic photographer praised his works and couldn’t believe Joel had only started taking photography serious that year.
Joel spent several years studying the natural sciences as a falconer and in studying Geology at the School of Mines in Rapid City, SD. His love of working in the field with wildlife and land formations shows most definitely in his work.