Mineral Lake was my family’s favorite fishing lake. How did visiting Mineral Lake shape you, both as an artist and a person? I guess at some point I hoped it was a name I could live up to. I thought it was pretty cool that I had a name with tchotchkes attached to it. Friends and family would give me Mona Lisa artifacts: t-shirts, socks, keychains, coffee mugs. Then when I got older and really understood the Mona Lisa thing, I made it a point to use my whole name. I guess I fussed a lot when I was a baby. I was the youngest of six and my older siblings called me Mona Groana when they were teasing me. What was it like carrying the name Mona Lisa? Did it feel like a name you had to live up to or that held expectations?

Writer Kait Heacock conducted this interview. Here, we get to know the woman behind the art and this artist opportunity. Mona Lisa’s paintings are hanging in the Mineral School library/multipurpose room. The Roberts family is helping Mineral School offer a new visual artist fellowship for an LGBTQ-identifying artistdebuting this summer, in memory of Mona Lisa. Her sister, Star Roberts, channeled her for us this month. Painter Mona Lisa Roberts spent summers with her family at and around Mineral Lake and the Mt. Posted Decem8:16 pm by Jane | Category: Artists, Blog