Archive for the ‘Around Town’ Category
Curator Elizabeth Armstrong to speak on Andy Warhol
Elizabeth Armstrong, Curator of Contemporary Art / Director of the Center for Alternative Museum Practice (CAMP) at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) will discuss “Warhol’s Icons: The Artist’s Search for Reality” on Thursday, April 11 from 7 – 9 PM at MSUM King Hall, Room 110.
For Andy Warhol, wandering the aisles of a supermarket was a voyage in reality far more exciting than looking at contemporary art. Today, as viewers of “The Colbert Report” know, we are living in an age of “truthiness,” in which the relationship between reality and fiction has never been murkier. When did we begin to notice that replicas or artifacts of things were more exciting than the actual things they represented? How did it happen that more people now tune in to fake news shows to get their real news?
Curator Elizabeth Armstrong will explore our shifting experience and understanding of reality through the brilliant artifice of Andy Warhol and the lens of international artists working today. Drawing from her MIA exhibition More Real? Art in the Age of Truthiness, Armstrong will explore notions of simulation, truthiness, deception, play, and how artists (and she includes Stephen Colbert in this category), help us navigate the growing slippage in our culture between reality and make believe. This project is supported in part by the MSUM Department of Art & Design Colloquium Lecture Series.
WHO: Elizabeth Armstrong, Curator of Contemporary Art / Director of CAMP at MIA
WHAT: “Warhol’s Icons: The Artist’s Search for Reality”
WHEN: Thursday, April 11 from 7 – 9 PM
WHERE: MSUM King Hall, Room 110
COST: Free and open to the public
Unglued Craft Fest is this weekend
Unglued Craft Fest
Plains Art Museum is anticipating a very busy weekend as we are hosting the third annual Unglued Craft Fest. On Saturday, February 23, from 9 AM to 5 PM, come join us for a variety of fun for {FREE}! There will be over 60 crafters and artists with their craft and work for sale. Shop for unique goods, enjoy live music, grab lunch at the café, and check out the Andy Warhol exhibit!
Interested in more Unglued fun? On Friday night, from 5 – 8 PM, we will be hosting the Unglued Craft Fest Gala night! Tickets are $8 presale and $10 at the door, which includes admission, one free drink ticket, appetizers, and live jazz. Also, guests are able to shop in a more relaxed environment of all of the craft fest vendors!
Click here to purchase tickets for the Unglued Craft Fest Gala: https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e6y8hkdu6a32152d&oseq=&c=&ch=
Hope to see you there!
Written by Savanna, Plains Art Museum Communications Intern
Glass-blowing demos during Street Fair
Jon Offutt will demo glass-blowing LIVE on Friday & Saturday!
Planning on heading downtown for the Fargo Street Fair? On Friday, July 20 and Saturday, July 21 local artist Jon Offutt will be taking his mobile glass blowing studio to the front of the Museum. Starting at 11 AM, he will be holding hourly demonstrations on glass-blowing and you can experience how he makes his unique pieces (last demo begins at 4 PM).
Stop in to the museum for free admission on Friday and Saturday, and to see more of Offutt’s work, including his installation Dakota Horizons. Additionally, Offutt will have some of his finished pieces on sale in The Store. Located inside the Museum, The Store also has a variety of jewelry, purses, books, toys, and unique crafts available for purchase.
We’re taking some credit for the lack of snow
Part of the concept drawing for "Lucent Gale", the second-place proposal for the Winter Wonderland competition, by Drew Holmgren, Collin Johnson, and Tali Johnson.
We issued a press release yesterday with an update on Winter Wonderland, a winter Defiant Gardens project. For the project, we joined forces with artist, and NDSU assistant professor of landscape architecture, Stevie Famulari, and the NDSU Memorial Union Gallery to hold a juried display of snow sculptures the first week of February.
At least, we’d planned to do that. In case you haven’t noticed how limber your back feels from lack of shoveling, we don’t have enough snow for the designers to build the structures. So, the decision was made to cancel the event. On the one hand, it’s a shame that we’re unable to present this fun, winter-only spectacle … but on the other hand, we’re going to take a little credit for that limber back. From the release:
“We think that this project shows the power of art to not just change lives but to change the weather,” said Colleen Sheehy, director and CEO of the Museum. “The mere planning and organizing of ‘Winter Wonderland’ overturned weather predictions that promised a very snowy winter caused by El Nina, and produced the snowless, warm season we’ve enjoyed this year. That was an inadvertent impact of this project.”
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“Our arts community, in preparation for toughing out our typically intense January and February temperatures and snow in a creative way, would like to take credit for our lack of snow by simply planning this event,” Famulari said.
Of course, we say all this with tongue in cheek; the lack of snow has derailed a lot of cold-snubbing fun in our area. The St. Paul Winter Carnival also cancelled its snow sculpture competition and the Beargrease Sled Dog Race, another regional favorite, also had to cancel this year’s event. All of these represent a dint in our respective economies and deprive us all of a needed reprieve from the winter doldrums.
You can, at the very least, see the designs that were meant to be part of Winter Wonderland. They’ll be on display at the Memorial Union Gallery January 12 – 26 and here at the Museum February 3 – 12.
Rebecca Krinke maps out emotions
This evening, Rebecca Krinke will speak at Fargo City Hall as part of the Go2030 long-range planning initiative. The event will get under way at 7 p.m.
Krinke will give a talk, entitled The Emotional Landscape, on her recent work, notably the project Unseen/Seen: The Mapping of Joy and Pain. The project involved taking a large map of Minneapolis/St. Paul into public spaces and asking passersby to color in spots where they’ve felt joy and spots where they’ve felt pain. The participants (you can watch them at work in this video) worked different sides of their experiences, leveraging their spatial memories and physical history with their emotional memories and history. The resulting conversations are touching, funny, and revealing. The experience of working with The Mapping of Joy and Pain appeals to participants’ broader emotional sense (“How about that place in St. Paul where your car got stolen?”) and their love of details (“8:07, right there, which is the time that Todd proposed to me on King’s Hill.”).
Krinke teaches in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota. We look forward to hearing more about The Mapping of Joy and Pain, along with her many other projects, from her this evening.
To learn more:
- Visit Rebecca Krinke’s website at rebeccakrinke.com
- Read more about The Mapping of Joy and Pain at her blog, Mapping Joy and Pain
- Watch a video of The Mapping of Joy and Pain process (YouTube)
Kinji Akagawa: Feeling Beauty in the City
Imagine a Fargo more condusive to creative life, one with more spaces allowing you to rest your feet, reflect on your surroundings, or eat lunch outside while you read a book. Imagine a Fargo that encourages you to be healthier and more active, one in which your stressful life is buffered by spaces where you can meet with friends and chat under the late autumn sun.
Such a city is the goal of artist Kinji Akagawa – places that are healthier and cleaner, places that contribute to a more balanced lifestyle for inhabitants and build a sense of serenity and cohesiveness. Akagawa’s public art works do this by both accentuating and deintensifying the environment, offering city dwellers a place to pause or socialize. He creates small, everyday oases that defuse a city’s callous nature, exploring the relationship between art and the community through the use of elegant shapes and natural materials, mainly stone and wood. His works are meant to be practical as well as beautiful, a notion perhaps best seen through his famous benches – two such works can be found in the Walker Sculpture Garden and Nicollet Mall.
Akagawa is a well-known figure in the public art movement, a professor emeritus of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a recipient of the 2009 McKnight Distinguished Artist award. He was also part of the Museum’s 2009 Defiant Gardens Symposium. In a presentation entitled “Feeling Beauty in the City,” Akagawa will encourage the City of Fargo to consider issues addressed in his work in its long-range planning process. The presentation will be held at Fargo City Hall Wednesday, October 5, at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
- Read Kinji Akagawa’s bio on Wikipedia
- Read and listen to a 2009 MPR interview with Kinji Akagawa
- See the work Garden Seating, Reading, Thinking at the Walker Sculpture Garden
- View some of Akagawa’s print work through the Highpoint Center for Printmaking
2011 FMVA Studio Crawl Preview
It’s almost that time again … time for the annual FMVA Studio Crawl, coming to a neighborhood near you this Saturday and Sunday, October 1 and 2 from noon to 6 p.m.
As partners of the Studio Crawl, each year we get the opportunity to host a preview exhibition of work by participating artists. The preview showcases the artistic talents at work here in the F-M area, but it also has a more basic purpose: to give everyone the opportunity to map out their Studio Crawl experience by seeing work up close and personal. Before heading out for the crawl this Saturday or Sunday, swing by the Museum to pick up a Studio Crawl map and get a nutshell glimpse of the whole shebang (maps are also available here, at fmva.us.) We’re also holding a meet-and-greet with our new curator, Megan Johnston, on Saturday morning from 10 a.m. – noon during Kid Quest, so it’s also a good opportunity to say hello and welcome Megan to our arts community.
To give you a preview of the preview, below are a few images of work from the Studio Crawl Preview exhibition to whet your appetite. We’ll see you out and about on the Crawl this weekend!
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- Tim Ray, “Sketch for Big Painting” (left), and Dale Cook, “Untitled”
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- Brad Bachmeier, “The Return of the Golem”
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- From l to r, works by Bruce Crummy, Brenda Luthi, Meg Spielman Peldo, and Scott Thuen
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- Mark Bratlie, “Walleye in Glass”
Bike Jamboree Recap
On the 18th, we hosted our third Plains InsideOUT event, the Bike Jamboree. The event, which was put on in partnership with Great Northern Bicycle Co. and the FM Community Bike Workshop, wasn’t just a bunch of fun activities with bikes. It also demonstrated that art and transportation are vehicles (pun intended) for stitching a city together into a healthier, more vibrant place to live.
The festivities kicked off with a few art-making activities themed around bikes. We made spoke cards, decorated bikes, and worked together in creating a big, bike-able canvas:
We also had some tasty treats, thanks to The Baking Cup:
Later in the evening, about two dozen of us hopped on our bikes to take a public art tour through downtown. Public art is becoming a part of the fabric of downtown Fargo thanks especially to folks like Paul Ide, whose murals were a backbone of the tour. Ide, who we’ve also been working with through the Hip Hop Don’t Stop events, was gracious enough to join us and provide background on his work. We had a lively discussion about commercial art at the Sunny Brook whiskey mural and also debated the placement of the Ten Commandments near the Civic Center and Fargo Public Library. Megan Johnston, our new curator, bravely rode along to lead discussion despite being new to Fargo streets and not having ridden a bike in a while. We ended the ride at the Red Raven Espresso Parlor, where we were treated to lemonade and music by We. The bike tour was a hit. We’ll try doing it again before the end of the summer and we’re also working on a Foursquare list of public art and street art in downtown for those who’d like to check them out themselves.
PAM curator (center) discusses the Sunny Brook Whiskey mural at 320 5th St N.
The mural by Paul Ide and JAWSH at Roberts Street Studio.
As dark settled in, Tom from Great Northern fired up the Mighty Quinn, a five-person bicycle, for a showing of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure in the Museum parking lot. About 40 people biked in to watch. And, while it’s a silly movie, showing Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure in this way makes a few serious points. First, it’s possible for entertainment like movies to be enjoyed off the grid. And second, bikes can do more than get us from one place to another. They can literally be an engine for a more sustainable way of life.
It was a wonderful event. Thanks to all who came, and thanks to our hard-working partners at the Bike Workshop and Great Northern. Big, big thanks to our sponsors at Gate City Bank, Milestones Photography, and Spicy Pie for helping to make this a free event. Special thanks to Denise Knudson at DK Custom Framing for leading the bike tour, to Shane Reetz from Fitz and Flick for the photos of the bike tour and the movie (view more at Shane’s Facebook page here), and Britta Trygstad (view more photos on her blog here) from Milestones for photos at the art-making activities.
Hot Weekend, Cool Events: HHDS3 and Ramp Jam at the Plains
Hip Hop Don't Stop 3 Mural - Arctic Audio on 8th St. South in Fargo.
Hip Hop Don't Stop 3 mural logo - these penguins have no problem staying cool!
Downtown Fargo’s scenery is always evolving, and after last weekend, it has a bit more color thanks to the great new mural on the Arctic Audio building on 8th Street South. This mural is the product of the third installment of Hip Hop Don’t Stop, a collaborative mural painting project co-presented by Plains Art Museum and Idehaus. HHDS3 brought together artist Paul Ide and other Midwest premier street artists; STUN, EACH2, TOIL and JAPL to create the mural, Friday through Monday, while enjoying the cool beats of local DJ’s and hip-hop artists. Check out more of Ide’s work throughout downtown at the Gasper’s School of Dance and Performing Arts, Roberts Street Studio and behind Art Materials on Broadway.
As part of the Downtown Street Fair, the Museum presented Ramp Jam at the Plains Saturday afternoon – ramps were erected in front of the Museum for skateboarders, bikes, and inline skates. “The community support we saw on Saturday was great. Loads of people from the Street Fair stopped by to check out the action, even in the heat,” Museum Graphics Director Cody Jacobson said. Maybe it was the free hot dogs or This Skate and Snow merch giveaways, but skaters of all ages came out to show off their moves on the ramps.
Skateboarder Eric Hanson jumps a gap at the Ramp Jam.
Kids beat the heat at the Ramp Jam with fun water toys.
If you missed any of the action, check out the Museum Flickr page for more photos or come visit the Museum and check out Tom Kemmer’s skateboarding photography and videography, Local Spots, which is currently on display in the Xcel and Serkland Law Galleries. Haven’t had enough of all things speedy on wheels? Join us August 18 for Bike Jamboree + Bike-In Movie Night for fun with a bicycle art project, bike tour of public art downtown, and an outdoor screening of “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” powered by The Mighty Quinn, a five-person bicycle! Donations are still needed for this event, please head over to the Events Page to learn more.
Skateboards and Mural Art Round Out a Mammoth Weekend
Tom Kemmer gets a hand constructing a ramp for Saturday's Ramp Jam at the Plains
That great summer Fargo pastime, the Downtown Street Fair, will bring scads of vendors and shoppers to our neighborhood starting Thursday. Along with it will come the tantalizing smells of fair food, the possibility of crazy heat, and a handful of great (and free) events presented by the Museum.
The fun gets started with the third installment of Hip Hop Don’t Stop, a collaborative mural painting project spearheaded by artist Paul Ide and co-presented by Plains Art Museum and Idehaus. HHDS3 will feature a slew of Midwest street artists painting a mural at the Arctic Audio building on 8th Street South in downtown Fargo. Boosting the vibe during the painting sessions will be an assortment of DJ’s and hip-hop artists from around the region. The public can stop by, say hi, and check out the progress from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday through Monday (weather permitting). Along with the mural painting, South Moorhead Scratch Dungeon member DJ Stupid Birthday will present a demonstration and talk on the evolution of the turntable DJ at the Museum on Friday evening at 6 p.m. If you like turntables, don’t miss it.
On Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., we’ll be holding a Ramp Jam on 7th Street North in front of the Museum. The ramps will be open to skateboarders, bikes, and inline skates of all ages. The Ramp Jam is being organized by Museum Graphics Director Cody Jacobson along with Tom Kemmer (see photos above and below), whose exhibition of skateboarding photography and videography, Local Spots, is currently on display in the Xcel and Serkland Law Galleries. (All riders must sign a release form to ride the course. Under 18 needs a parent or guardian signature. Click here to download a release form or stop by THIS skate and snow, 625 1st Ave N, Downtown Fargo.
Eep.
Admission to the galleries is free all day on Saturday too, so feel free to stop by, rest your feet, take advantage of our air conditioning, and check out all of our current exhibitions.
That said, what’s your favorite part of the Street Fair weekend? Tell us in the comments.