Contact: vivianraerider@gmail.com

Vivian is a mother, grandmother, pediatrician and children’s book author. She moved to Winona in early 2020 for a position at the new Gundersen clinic. With a full time medical career and raising children, Vivian did not have formal training in art, but creativity has always been a big part of her life.

Vivian learned to make quilts in her 30s. She wrote her first book, Thank You for Giraffes, and decided to be her own illustrator with small art quilts. This was published in 2006. She discovered she liked cutting things up and putting them back together, and began making glass, tile and mixed media mosaics in 2008. She is currently working on a book which will be illustrated with mosaics called Love the Earth.

Vivian is originally from Texas but has lived in Minnesota for 32 years, previously in the Twin Cities. She absolutely loves living in Winona—the beauty of the river and bluffs, the arts and music, and the feeling of community.