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Issue #21.2 |
In this Issue: Where the Art Things Are
—The Walker's go-to person for family programming, Ashley Duffalo, points you toward a cornucopia of arts resources that will appeal to any kid's passion with something for children of every age
Fall is a perfect time to start taking in a bit of culture with the kids. There are off-the-beaten track art-making workshops, electrifying performances, and edifying gallery exhibits at your disposal all over the state this time of year—and that’s kind of the problem. How do you know where to begin when faced with the daunting prospect of sifting through all those possibilities to find the really good stuff? Ashley Duffalo, the Walker’s family programs guru, is here to lend a hand with this issue’s Mashup. She’s compiled a fantastically diverse index of kid-friendly arts resources filled with unexpected delights and practical tips for getting the most out of Minnesota’s wealth of arts programming for families. You Are Here also points you to a number of events the whole family will really love, not to mention art crawls galore, a couple of exotic dance festivals, a few musical fusions, and a host of calls for artists and grant workshops in the region.
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Artist Opportunities
Image appears courtesy FORECAST Public Artworks |
Come to a NYFA Source Artist Workshop to tap this research tool for grants, residencies, space awards, and much more (Workshops in Mpls, St. Cloud, and Menomonie, WI will be held October 11-13)
Writers, Performers, and Emerging Artists: Creative Capital Foundation is hosting free grant information sessions (Walker Art Center, September 29)
FORECAST Public Artworks is hosting their annual, free grant workshops in Rochester (October 14), the Twin Cities (October 3), and Duluth (September 29)
CALL FOR MUSICIANS: Stevens Square Center for the Arts is looking for musicians to provide music for exhibit opening receptions coming up on September 29 and October 27.
CALL FOR LITERARY AND VISUAL ARTISTS AGES 5-21: Open Up Magazine, a new literary and visual arts journal about mental health created by and for young artists seeks contributors. (Deadline December 14)
CALL FOR ARTISTS: Plantscape, Inc is looking for full-time artificial tree sculptors capable of fabricating life-size trees from scratch using a variety of media and materials
JOB OPENING: The Southern Theater is looking for a Production Manager |
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Radio mnartists: Open Eye Figure Theatre
 LISTEN to the interview by host Marya Morstad
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Producer Marya Morstad continues the Radio mnartists series of podcasts and KFAI radio interviews with an interview with the founders of Open Eye Figure Theatre, Michael Sommers and Susan Haas.
Open Eye Figure Theatre is dedicated to producing ingenious theater on an intimate scale, primarily using puppetry as its medium, by creating adaptations from classical literature as well as original productions. Open Eye has recently opened its new jewel-box theater in South Minneapolis in what was the former Patrick’s Cabaret. The Theatre's inaugural season in this new venue will begin with A Prelude to Faust, a puppet epic created by Michael Sommers....CLICK HERE to listen to the interview on mnartists.org.
What: A Prelude to Faust
Where: Open Eye Figure Theatre, Minneapolis
When: September 28-October 22
Tickets: $15 ($12 students and seniors)
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Art on the Wall: A Bad Case of “Collectoritis”
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Art on the Wall, a partnership between mplsart.com and mnartists.org, continues with a conversation with Dan Schlissel and Art on the Wall curators Emma Berg and Kristoffer Knutson.
Founder and owner of Stand Up! Records Dan Schlissel has strong opinions about collecting. He buys what he loves whether there is space for it or not. Kristoffer and I meet Dan at his office, located in the same warehouse as printmakers Burlesque of North America and design firm WeWorkForThem. We pull up seats around the classic “office desk”, Dan positioned prominently behind it. After some brief niceties, Dan jumps into where his habit for collecting began, in the “middle of nowhere”… click here to read the interview on mnartists.org.
 CLICK HERE to read mplsart.com’s interview with Stand Up! Records founder Dan Schlissel and browse through a collection of the artwork that’s caught this pop art maven’s eye
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Always a Crisis: The Politics of Fear at the Casket Factory
CLICK HERE to read Lightsey Darst’s astute review of this apocalyptically-minded romp
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Lightsey Darst reviews Skewed Visions' Strange Love, at the Casket Company through October 14.
Skewed Visions’ new site-specific work, Strange Love, an exploration of the politics of fear appropriately set in an old casket factory, moves forward in two sections. It reminds me of nothing so much as Halloween haunted houses, and as such it’s fun. The vicarious thrill of watching my fellow maze-goers as they sit in the “Strange Love” photo booth, unaware that they are being filmed, overwhelms the slight creepiness of having been watched myself. The chair with ankle and wrist irons is chilling, but so literal that I can fend it off; instead of trembling, I have leisure to be amused at the gallery of post-industrial junk assembled in the place of torture implements…. Read the rest of Lightsey Darst’s insightful review of this intriguing new show on mnartists.org.
What: Strange Love by Skewed Visions
Where: Northwestern Casket Company, Minneapolis
When: Through October 14
Tickets: $15-18 |
The Medium Itself: McKnight Photographs
CLICK HERE to read Mason Riddle’s engaging analysis of the slippery “truths” behind these photographers’ snapshots
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Mason Riddle writes on the 2007 McKnight Fellows show at the Minnesota Center for Photography, featuring Kristine Heykants, Orin Rutchik, Mickey Smith, and Angela Strassheim. It's a mixed bag with some striking images.
The McKnight Foundation Artist Fellowships for Photographers program has come to roost in what seems its predestined home, the Minnesota Center for Photography. After a 25-year peripatetic journey, beginning at Film in the Cities in 1982 and then moving on to the Department of Art at the University of Minnesota, the program has supported 130 artists (some as many as five times) to date and stands to flourish now that it is anchored by an organization dedicated exclusively to the medium....Read the review by Mason Riddle on mnartists.org.
What: McKnight New Photography: McKnight Fellows 06/07
Where: Minnesota Center for Photography, MIinneapolis
When: Through October 7
Tickets: FREE and open to the public
Credit: "Kennedy" from Push Button Memories by Orin Rutchik |
Indique: Untold Stories of Contemporary India
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Embark on a journey to discover the untold stories of contemporary India.
Join host Simone Ahuja in exploring a myriad of social and cultural changes taking place on the subcontinent fueled by an exponential economic growth curve. Each half-hour episode features several vignettes ranging from Hollywood/Bollywood film collaborations, to ecotourism and ayurveda in canal-laced Kerala, to ancient forts and India's burgeoning wine industry. Help celebrate the national launch of this locally produced public television show in a reception hosted by Twin Cities Public Television and Minnesota International Center at Temple Restaurant and Bar. (Visit TPT’s website to check broadcast times for the series’ episodes.) And be sure to read next month’s access+ENGAGE feature profile of Simone Ahuja, founder of Blood Orange Media, the bicontinental (Minneapolis/Bombay-based) production company behind the show.
What: Indique: Stories of Contemporary India special screening and reception
Where: Temple Restaurant and Bar, Minneapolis
When: October 4, 5:30-7:30 pm
Admission fee: $15 ($5 for TPT members, MIC members and students)
Credit: Top, film still from “Bollywood Calling”. Bottom, film still from “Bombay’s Finest” |
READ ON for a quick handpicked sampling from the rich variety of events listed on mnartists.org/calendar ... |
| Classes & Workshops |
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Twin Rivers Center for the arts is sponsoring a workshop to help community arts organizations and nonprofits collaborate more effectively
(Technology Plus Building, Mankato, October 9)
Painter Mark Granlund will teach a five-day workshop on Madeline Island on painting from the changing season in watercolors
(Madeline Island School for the Arts, La Pointe, WI
October 1-5)
Second City veteran Jimmy Carrane is offering two intensive improv workshops for Brave New Institute
(Brave New Workshop, Minneapolis, October 6 & 7)
Studio Bricolage (a program by Leonardo's Basement) is hosting a Halloween make-and-take party for the whole family: “Scary Stuff, Scary Noises, Scary Selves”
(Leonardo’s Basement, Minneapolis, October 5)
Credit: White Iris by Mark Granlund |
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| Dance |
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Second Annual Midwest Festival of Oriental Dance
(Jawaahir Dance Company, Minneapolis, October 15-21)
Russian Seasons in Minnesota, a festival of traditional Russian folk music and dance
(Buetow Music Auditorium, Concordia University, Saint Paul, October 14)
Minnesota SAGE Awards for Dance: ceremony, gala, and performances
(Ritz Theater, Minneapolis, October 3)
EXPLORATIONS IN FLAMENCO: an evening of new choreography by Deborah Elias and Sachiko exploring Hiroshima and the WWII atomic blasts
(Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis, September 27-30)
Credit: Photos from Explorations in Flamenco courtesy Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre |
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| Fairs & Festivals |
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| Kid-Friendly Events |
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Duluth Art Institute Free Family Day
(Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, September 29)
The Science Museum and Kinetic Toy Sculptor Anastasia Ward present Soft and Bright Circuits: an introduction to circuits, LEDs, and kinetic sculpture
(The Science Museum of Minnesota, Saint Paul, October
4 & 6)
Fall Fables for Families: Storyteller Rose Arrowsmith DeCoux spins seasonal tales for all ages
(Black Sheep Coffee Café, Saint Paul, September 28)
Wish Come True by Friends With You, featuring fantastical inflatables in an interactive playground and a variety of drawings and paintings to delight and entertain
(Soo Visual Arts Center, Minneapolis, September 28-
October 27)
Walker Art Center’s Free First Saturday: Move Your World with live music by the Pachamama Band and a screening of Sirah directed by Christine Spindler
(Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, October 6) |
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| Literary Events |
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Rain Taxi presents: The Seventh Annual Twin Cities Book Festival
(Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Minneapolis, October 13)
Poet’s Roundtable: bring your own poetry or favorite poems published by others to read
(Opposable Thumbs Books and Vinyl, Minneapolis, October 6)
Steve Almond (Candyfreak) reads from his new book, (Not That You Asked): Rants, Exploits, and Obsessions
(Minneapolis Central Library, Minneapolis, October 11)
Thursday Poetry Evening, featuring a reading by Jana Bourna followed by an open mic free-for-all
(Emy Frentz Arts Guild, Mankato, October 18)
Credit: Photo appears courtesy Rain Taxi |
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| Music |
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All Nora’s Daughters Can Fly/The Silents: A one-of-a-kind collaborative showcase of live music, dance, and theater by innovative composer Ben Siems and Live Action Set’s Vanessa Voskuil
(The Ritz Theater, Minneapolis, October 18-21)
The Evolution of Music
(The Capri Theater, Minneapolis, October 4)
The 29th Annual Fall Festival and Fiddler’s Contest
(Terrace Mill, Terrace, September 30)
Wordless Music Series: with performances from Valgeir Sigurðsson and Nico Muhly
(The Southern Theater, Minneapolis, September 29)
Credit:
Claudia Finsaas, last year's 1st Grand Prize/Open Class winner in the Fiddler's Contest at Terrace Mill. |
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| Theater |
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A Disease Called Freedom: conceived, created, and performed by The Ways Ensemble
(Pangea World Theater, Minneapolis, October 4-7)
Measure for Measure: Shakespeare’s “problem play” reimagined as a Gunsmoke radio show, directed by Maggie Scanlan
(Czech-Slovak Center, Saint Paul, September 27 & 30)
Dead City by Sheila Callaghan, a modern riff on Joyce’s Ulysses
(Red Eye Theatre, Minneapolis, October 5-21)
Comedian C. Willi Myles and Singer Songwriter Laura Harley offer a family-friendly show
(Elk River Area Arts Alliance, Elk River, October 6)
Credit: Photo of C. Willi Myles courtesy of Elk River Arts Alliance |
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| Visual Arts |
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You Are Here event listings are drawn almost entirely from the mnartists.org calendar, so if you want to improve the odds that you'll see your happening linked here, you'd better start posting your events!
We've made it super easy to begin: here's a step-by-step guide that'll show you how to promote your own events on the new arts calendar. Browse through more up-to-the-minute events listings or post a show of your own on mnartists.org's new DIY arts events calendar. |
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One for the Road
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Ophelia by Alexa Horochowski. Acrylic on paper,
62" x 52", 2006
The loveliness of Alexa Horochowski's ambiguous depictions of childhood, replete with mythic allusion and latent sexuality, compels your gaze and, at the same time, leaves you a bit discomfited. Read a fascinating, utterly candid conversation on mnartists.org between Horochowski and another provocative Minnesota artist, Frank Gaard. You can see the unveiling of her outdoor wall painting for the Mexican celebration of Day of the Dead at the Gustavus Adolphus Building on Lake and 16th Street in late October, and she will show another piece at the Nash Gallery in Enchanted, an exhibit opening November 13 (reception on November 16).
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CREDITS
access+ENGAGE Editor: Susannah Schouweiler
mnartists.org Project Director: Kathleen Kvern
Original e-journal design: Brand & Butter
Featured Contributors and Artists
Banner image (cropped and reprinted with permission of the artist): Detail from Expulsion by Alexa Horochowski, this issue's One for the Road featured artist.
Acrylic on paper, 45" x 54", 2002. Raised in the Patagonia of Argentina, Alexa Horochowski immigrated with her family to the United States at the age of ten. She spent her formative years in a small Midwestern town and then went on to study journalism and creative writing at the University of Missouri. Studies in photojournalism led to explorations in fine art photography. In 1996 Horochowski completed an MFA degree in photography and printmaking from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Since then, Horochowski’s art practice has expanded to include sculpture, painting, and video. Her work has been exhibited widely in the United States and internationally. She is currently represented by Monique Meloche Gallery and Navta Schulz Gallery, both in Chicago, and Braga Menendez Gallery in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Horochowski is Associate Professor of sculpture at St. Cloud State University, Saint Cloud, Minnesota.
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