BIO & PRESS

Artist Statement

My art tells a story: about a place, a feeling, or an experience. I am both a painter and a writer and I focus my storytelling on conservation, connection, and reverence for the natural environment and other beings. My paintings have been described as impressionistic, but I also veer into abstraction and realism depending on the season of life. The constant themes that show up in my paintings are maximalism, vibrant colors, a multitude of brush stroke sizes, and movement. I oftentimes mix narrative with visual art as a multidisciplinary tool to go deeper with the subject at hand. I believe that visual art has the power to move people to act and feel deeply, and I hope to evoke a sense of awe and wonder in both my paintings and written pieces. The best feeling is when I am able to help people smile, cry, learn, and everything in between when they perceive my art. 

Bio

Ali Syverson is a visual artist and writer, living and working in Minneapolis, MN. She is a self-taught visual artist and works in a variety of mediums but is currently specializing in acrylic paint, with both abstract and realistic subjects. For her writing practice, she has researched and published articles on climate and environmental issues in the Pacific Islands, Middle East, Africa, and Asia, which she completed while working as a writer for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). 

Ali was DOGE’d from USAID at the beginning of 2025 with the change of presidential administration, and took the life upheaval as an opportunity to fully pivot into the arts after a lifetime of pursuing it as a hobby. Upon her departure from DC, she began using art as a tool for activism to communicate the impacts of climate change and other social issues. Outside of her visual arts practice, she has joined the Minnesota Humanities Center as their Communications Director to help uplift the arts, humanities, and storytelling throughout the state. Ali has shown her artwork in galleries in solo and group showings in Washington DC, New York, Florida, Maryland, Wisconsin, Virginia, Connecticut, and Minnesota; received a climate justice art residency at the Foundation House in Connecticut, was an inaugural Artist in Residence at Hilltown Commons, has been featured on Peacock’s Devil in Disguise television series, and has received various grants for her visual art practice. Ali holds a Bachelors in Journalism from University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Masters in Public Policy Administration from Northwestern University, and her work can be found at @alisyversonart on instagram.

Upcoming showings:

  • Crafting Justice: Waging Art Upon Law in Los Angeles, CA May 2026

Current showings:

  • Solo showing at Pizza Luce in St. Paul, MN, April 2026

  • Global Rhythms at Compass Atelier in Kensington, Maryland, March-April 2026

  • Bold Orange Featured Artist, MN, January-June 2026

  • Minnesota Convention Center, MN, January-June 2026

  • Art featured in Peacock’s John Wayne Gacy Devil in Disguise series, aired October 2025

Previous showings, residencies, and classes:

  • Umbrella Art Fair, DC, November 20-23 2025

  • Group Showing “Don’t Look Now”, Art at a Time Like This, New York City, October 2025

  • Solo Exhibition at “The Unraveling of USAID: A Future Without Foreign Assistance” at Warehouse Arts District, St. Petersburg, FL, September 2025

  • Group Showing Rensselaerville Art Show, New York, July-Aug 2025

  • Group Showing “The Opening” at 600T in DC, April-June 2025

  • Group Showing “A Persistent Nature: An ImagineEarth Art Exhibition” at Poplar Grove in DC, April 2025

  • “You’re Fired” Community Showcase, Relative Positions, April 2025

  • Group Showing “Expressions of Community” at Hera Hub, Jan 2025-May 2024

  • Group Showing SHE:DC, Shop Made in DC, March 2025

  • Wearable art for sale at Metro Club Vintage, December 2023-March2025

  • Group showing “Golden Hours, Golden Moments” at Hera Hub, Sept 2024-Jan 2025

  • Group showing at Gallery Y “From the Earth to the Sky” @ YMCA Bowen, May 8-June 28

  • SHEDC Group Showing, Shop Made in DC, March 7-30 2024

  • Solo exhibition at Tryst Coffeehouse, Feb 1-29 2024

  • Solo exhibition at Hood College’s Whittaker Gallery, sponsored by Mobilize Frederick’s Climate Summit, Jan 15-Feb 9 2024

  • Group showing at DC Bouldering Project, April 2023-Jan 2024

  • Group showing at Temple of Mother Earth DC, April 2023-Jan 2024

  • Silent Auction @ Hope Multiplied Reception Virginia, May 2023

  • Pointillism art class with Hope Multiplied @ Guston Middle School Virginia, March 2023

  • Group showing “Waves of Joy” @ YMCA Bowen art gallery DC, Dec 2022 - Feb 2023

  • Group showing @ Philz coffee Adams Morgan DC, Sept 2022 - Jan 2023

  • Group showing “Art for Gifting” @ Jo Fleming Contemporary Art Gallery Annapolis Maryland, Dec 2022

  • Group showing “Fall Show” @ Bluebird Sky Yoga Brookland DC, August-Oct 2022

  • Group showing @ NBHD Brulee Harlem NYC, July-Sept 2022

  • Group showing @ Hole in the Sky DC, Feb 2022

  • Group showing @ Reverie Madison, June 2015

  • 1st place award @ MN state fair, August 2007

Residencies:

  • Hilltown Commons Art Residency, Rensselaerville New York, July-Sept 2025

  • Artist in Residence, Williams Corner Wine, VA May-July 2025

  • Foundation House Climate Justice Art Residency, Greenwich Connecticut, March 2025

Grants& Awards:

  • Warehouse Arts District St. Petersburg Grant Recipient, 2025

  • Long Run Foundation Grant Recipient, 2025

  • Winner of the DC Ecowomen Earth Day Art Contest, April 2025

Press:

Publications:

contact ali

interested in a commission? email ali with a general idea of what you’re looking for and she will follow up with more information.

or, just drop a note to say hi. thanks!